Suresh Raina withdraws his name from Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Southpaw Suresh Raina who recently made a comeback in the national colours for the T20I series against England has made himself unavailable the inter-Zonal T20 tournament for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2017. The reason for his withdrawal from the tournament is still unknown. Raina was appointed as the captain of Central Zone for the ongoing T20 league along with Naman Ojha as his deputy. Ojha who led the team in the 1st game will take over the duties for the rest of the tournament.

Team India won’t play any white-ball cricket until the Champions Trophy in England in June and the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be the only opportunity for Raina to make a case for himself when the squad for the Champions Trophy is announced. Team India will go into the tournament as defending champions after defeating England in the final of the 2013 edition which was also held in England.

The Central Zone squad comprises of three players each from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Railways while Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha consist of two players each. The Central zone side is loaded with spinners and as many as 4 frontline spinners in their ranks. Raina, on the other hand, made a very good comeback in the T20 series against England with some crucial innings batting at NO.3 position.

Despite his indifferent form of late, Raina continues to be an important member of the national set-up, especially in the limited overs format. He has been an exceptional limited-overs player over the years and the selectors might bring him back for the Champions Trophy.

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His last limited overs assignment before the T20I series against England was in the T20 World Cup in India in where India got eliminated after the semi-final loss to West Indies. His last ODI for India came against South Africa way back in 2015 and he would definitely want to make a comeback sooner than later.