Suresh Raina picks five best players to field in the inner-circle

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina is still considered as one of the best fielders the sport has ever witnessed. He was a live wire in the field while playing for India. He announced his international retirement on August 15 along with MS Dhoni and will be seen only playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). His fielding skills will be on show in the shortest format though not in the blue jersey.

Indian cricket is fortunate to have some of the best fielders currently in the side. The likes of Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja among others still make life tough for the batsmen on the field only with their fielding. However, it all started with Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif turning things around in the field while Suresh Raina carried the legacy.

While speaking to Cricbuzz after the retirement, the southpaw from Uttar Pradesh was given a list of 10 cricketers and five fielding positions inside the circle. He was told to pick five best fielders for the particular position. It was definitely going to be a tough ask, but Raina, like he did all his career, did it seamlessly. He picked Jonty Rhodes to field at backward point, one of the important and toughest positions to field.

Suresh Raina chose Ricky Ponting at mid-wicket

The 33-year-old then went with AB de Villiers to stand at covers. The former South Africa cricketer was brilliant in the field apart from his excellent batting. Arguably the best fielder in modern-day cricket, Ravindra Jadeja was given a job to stand at mid-off by Suresh Raina while Yuvraj Singh made it to mid-on position. Jadeja is undoubtedly the best to field at any position.

Yuvraj, in his prime, was the beast on the field and affected direct hits more often than not. Raina Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting to field at mid-wicket and was quick to point his ability to aim a single stump while fielding at the position during his career.

Virat Kohli, Herschelle Gibbs, Paul Collingwood, Glenn Maxwell and Martin Guptill missed out from the list. Nevertheless, even they are/were also the exceptional fielders.

Here is the list of players and fielding positions Suresh Raina chose:

Backward Point – Jonty Rhodes

Covers – AB de Villiers

Mid-On – Yuvraj Singh

Mid-Off – Ravindra Jadeja

Mid-Wicket – Ricky Ponting