FAREWELL TO A COMPLETE CRICKETER — SURESH RAINA — My Two Cents India
2020 has been a tough year for all of us for various reasons. Another whirlwind hit Indian cricket fans on 15th August 2020. We got the news that MS Dhoni had announced his retirement from international cricket. It was a cryptic message on instagram and we were just figuring things out when another shock hit us out of the blue. Apparently, Suresh Raina too had announced his retirement. Raina had just put out a reaction on MS Dhoni’s retirement and stated that he wanted to join him on this journey. Two stalwarts of the game-deciding to walk off from the big stage on the same day.
His statement at first was cryptic & we all hoped that maybe there was some misunderstanding but a few hours later, it was confirmed that Raina had hung his boots. This retirement hit us all hard as it came out of the blue. Here is a guy who still had a few good years of cricket left in him and could have made a comeback into the national team. But it’s his decision and one should respect it. We should celebrate a career which has seen him be a part of teams which have lifted major ICC trophies. Above all, he has given the team everything he had, be it with the bat, with the ball and on the field.
Suresh Raina was a terrific batsman who could pack a punch down the order. He was someone who could accelerate at the death and that’s why even though he scored the big runs, we should remember him for the small priceless cameos that he used to play every now and then. For example: when you think about the 2011 World Cup, his knocks were really decisive in the quarterfinals and the semifinals. His calm and composed 34 from 28 balls helped us out against Australia & 36 against Pakistan was really important after another middle-order collapse.
He was quite handy with the ball too. MSD especially loved to have him bowl a lot in the middle overs. He was someone who had a knack of picking up crucial wickets or as we like to say the “Man with a Golden Arm”. There’s isn’t one particular spell that you could point out though. For example: in 2013, Kochi, ODI against WI, he chipped in with three important middle-order wickets & helped India to restrict them to a low total.
Raina’s fielding was just too good and he was one of India’s safest hands on the field. He used to be always patrolling the boundaries in the latter stages of the match. He was ever reliable and could produce a match-changing moment with his efforts. One remembers his run-out of Ross Taylor in the 2016 T20 World Cup. He just flicked the ball on to the stumps so quickly that it caught Taylor out of the crease.
One aspect that gets forgotten is the fact that Raina has also captained India. He first captained India on the tour of Zimbabwe. It was a young side and players like Ashwin and Naman Ojha made their debuts in this series. We didn’t qualify for the finals in the ODI Tri-series but we did manage to clean sweep the T20 series that followed. He also led us on the tour of West Indies in 2011 & won that series too. He has shown across his international and domestic career that he has a great cricketing mind.
I have one issue with the timing of this decision. While again it’s certainly his choice, a player of his stature deserves to get all the limelight and recognition for his efforts but in announcing his decision along with MSD’s retirement meant that his decision didn’t get the attention that it deserved. Maybe that’s what Raina wanted. In the end, somewhere down the line, I do hope that he reconsiders his decision especially if he has a great IPL. He’s still young and I believe that he still has a lot to give to Indian cricket.
Originally published at https://mytwocentsindia.com on August 17, 2020.
