The Dark Knight of Indian cricket - Suresh Raina

The Dark Knight of Indian cricket – Suresh Raina: The talented southpaw has been a part of the Indian squad for almost 10 years now, but his enthusiasm on the field is always like that of a beginner who wants to take advantage of every available opportunity. Known to all as a chirpy, friendly, and happy-go-lucky person, Suresh Raina has a long screenplay to his on-field success. His roots speak of his humble beginnings and can be traced back to Muradnagar, Ghaziabad District of Uttar Pradesh.  The small town never inhibited him from dreaming big and his passion and talent for cricket brought him to Government Sports College of Lucknow.

The initial days of his stay there gave him a taste of ragging and bullying which he had to brave through to become the sportsperson we know as. It was his industrious and dedicated attitude which earned him scholarships through which he paved his way to Under 16 and Under 19 Indian squad and eventually at an early of 19 years was also a part of the Indian squad. Thus, he comes across as a perfect example of a person, who weathered the storm of early struggles to shine as one of the most sought after cricketers for India.

In his debut outing with the Indian team, in 2005 against Sri Lanka, his performance was a typical example of greenhorn experience in which he got out for a duck while facing Muttiah Muralidharan. But his run out of Attapattu in the same match gave early signals of his fielding finesse and to this day there is a dread on the batsmen’s face when the ball goes to Raina is evident when they take a single instead of two, to keep away from the risk of being run out. His decent performance in 2005 saw him earn the label of being a precocious talent, but his sequential failures in 2006 with a dismal performance in the DLF cup led to his non-inclusion in the Indian squad for the 2007 World Cup.

The most tormenting phase of his life was the knee injury in 2007 because of which he was on crutches for about 6 months. His recuperation hiatus was marked by a consequential discovery of a rejuvenated cricketer who has since then been the fittest cricketer of the Indian side not having missed an IPL match till date. Since his comeback, he has been a constant figure in India’s ODI and T20I teams and has carved a niche for himself as someone who can hit big shots right from the word go and thus has been the most flexible player in the batting line-up.

Raina’s most memorable knocks comprise of his innings of 34 not out against Australia in the quarterfinals and of 36 not out against Pakistan. Of the 223 ODI matches that he has played for the Men in Blue, he has only scored 5 centuries, but that is not an indicator of his crucial performances for the team. Rather, his strike rate of 93.78 is the litmus test of the importance of his knocks and his stroke play in the death overs which has which has won him admiration from all the lovers of the game.

The only dry run of his career has been his scoring pattern in the Tests where apart from his debut century he has not been able to click with his shots and this has led to his sporadic inclusion and exclusion from the Indian Test side.

Although his recent performance during the South Africa tour has not been impressive, it would be a very big mistake to write him off. Raina sure is an impeccable fielder, a reliable middle order batsman, and a decent right arm off-break bowler with an uncanny knack of taking wickets at crucial points of the match.

On a softer side, he is one of the best team players with the least involvement in controversies and a genuine interest in the spirit of the game which he displays by constantly encouraging his teammates on the field. Although there have been several reports of his close association with Mahendra Singh Dhoni which have always attracted talks about the undue favors and his non-meritorious selection in the team. This has been time and again disproved by him with his spectacular match-winning performances.

Raina is a real charmer and though he may not have a lot of advertisements in his kitty like other more glamorous cricketers he sure exemplifies the meaning of an all-rounder and has recently showed his versatility by crooning for the movie Meeruthiya Gangsters. He also likes watching movies with The Fault in Our Stars being his favorite. He is also passionate about cooking and likes home-made food. Being a true sportsperson with no prejudices towards cricket, recently he has also been encouraging other sports and is the co-owner of UP Hockey Wizards. In addition, he also has predilections about sports car with Porsche Boxster being his first purchase and off late has also purchased the limited edition of Mini Cooper.

Though he has been dropped from Grade A to Grade B of the contracted players list, Raina still has a lot to give to Indian cricket. He is only the thirteenth Indian to cross the 4000-run mark and has had the highest strike rate in IPL history. Suresh Raina is the first Indian batsman to score a hundred in all formats of the game. He is also the first Indian to score a century in T20I, CLT20, and IPL. He is the first and only player to cross 400 run-mark in seven IPL seasons. Raina also holds the record of being the only Indian to score centuries in both T20 and ODI World Cups. He also has been an asset for his IPL team Chennai Super Kings as he holds the record for the most number of catches in the IPL.

In the end, Raina’s contributions to the Indian team have been gargantuan. To compare him to any other cricketer would be a mistake because he has carved a special position for himself in the Indian team. People may criticize him because he may not be scoring centuries as often as Virat Kohli or other top order batsmen do, but his straight hit off the spinners that mocks the length of the boundaries or his favorite inside out shot over the covers are examples of his masterful strokeplay which no other player can replicate. So let’s hope that the upcoming Australia tour, is a platform for Raina to unveil his best performances and he scales many more records and achievements in all the formats of the game.