Who should bat at no.4 Yuvraj Singh or Suresh Raina

The Indian fans are still enthusiastic in celebrating the victory over their arch-rivals Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. But there are few questions to be answered before the Mahendra Singh Dhoni lead team face the other sub-continental nation Bangladesh at the Chinnasamy stadium in Bangalore. One such worry for Team India hasbeen Suresh Raina’s form. The Indian batting is strongly poised in the top 3. No 4 has always been a seasoned slot for Team India and everybody including the captain MS Dhoni has batted in the past, but couldn’t succeed. There’s always a huge question mark on this slot, but this time Suresh Raina was preferred over the experienced Yuvraj Singh. Let’s see the performance of these two batsmen in 2016.

Suresh Raina

This man has been a T20 specialist for Team India, for some reasons. IPL has been a huge boost to his career. He has always performed consistently in the IPL batting at No.3. Given his records in the IPL, and the struggles he faced during the concluded South African series in October, by batting at no.5 and 6, the team management and the skipper have decided to give him the responsibility to bat higher up the order in the blue jersey. But Raina hasn’t fulfilled his potential, after the match winning 49 against Australia in Sydney. Since then, Raina has played 10 matches including the ongoing World T20 and scored 87 runs at an average of 12.43. Moreover, he is yet to open his account in the current World cup. He is struggling to handle the pace generated by the bowlers in the initial stage and it is clearly evident in Asia Cup and against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. If he is known for big hitting, then No.4 doesn’t offer him the luxuries, if the wickets fell regularly. Skipper MS Dhoni was questioned about Raina’s batting slot and he still believes that the left hander is the best man to bat at no.4 in the current scenario. However, he also hinted there will be necessary changes if Raina fails consistently.

Yuvraj Singh

When Yuvraj was at his prime in the past, he carried India for many years by batting at this key slot. But the story of the flamboyant left hander is completely disparate over the past years. One such instance, was the world T20 final in 2014, where he batted at no.4 and the innings was an absolute contrary to his stature. This is one of the reasons, why Yuvraj needs to give his much liked slot to Suresh Raina, though the southpaw has got more experience than Raina in handling the pressure situations. There are moments when yuvraj bludgeons bowlers from ball one, but the present is more resilient and reluctant in his approach. The knocks in the Asia cup and the important 25, he scored against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens is clearly conspicuous. He is fully aware of the situation and doesn’t throw his wicket unlike Raina. The Indian top order is not hitting the top gears in this world cup, so it’s vital for somebody like Yuvraj to play the anchor role at no.4, if the wickets fell regularly.

Yuvi haven’t hit top form, he scored only 142 runs at an average of 28.40 since his return, but the present circumstances shows Yuvraj will be more formidable than Raina batting at No.4

Written By Pragadeesh Shanmugam