Search This Blog

Raina's batting position quandary should be resolved now

The ODI series between the Lankans and India is about to begin within two-three days and while the batting line-up and the first-choice bowling options pretty much confirm themselves without the need to think too much about anything, I am a still concerned about how Suresh Raina is being handled. I can clearly remember that in his comeback season, Raina was given a chance to bat at number 3/4, and he did a very good job, scoring much very critical half-centuries. However, during the 'Mini' World Cup, he was found wanting against the short-ball and further, his compulsive pulling habit further did him in.
However, the way he was quickly yanked back to the number 6 - 7 slot after just one average tournament outing wherein the entire team had actually failed as a unit, was a bit surprising. Further, since that debacle, Raina has never been given another chance in the top four, fearing that his limitations against the short-pitched stuff might get further exposed. But does the Indian team really need to think about such an issue so seriously when it is clear that Suresh Raina is being wasted, almost finds himself confused, in the lower middle order, where he is invariably asked to come-in when the runrate is around 8-runs per over mark or the batting order has tanked? Just look around the nine, main test playing nations and nearly every team has a handful of batsmen who cannot handle quality, pacey bowling. Then why this special treatment for Raina? Even Ganguly was found handicapped when bowlers started hitting around the rib-cage length but he did overcome the issue because he was persisted with, as an opener.

2 comments:

  1. You are right.......xcept for the thing about
    the false raina's short-ball weakness ! if raina's weak,then most players are weak against short-balls since many do get out to short deliveries .....i have seen sangakkara get out to short-balls for more than 10 times atleast..does that mean he has poor technique ?? just 2 or 3 dismissals while playing a rising delivery doesnt make a player weak to it......raina's confidence is getting battered and his talent being wasted by making him bat down the order......like sanjay manjrekar and wasim akram said ,he should bat at no 3 to fully get his confidence back and hit out at those who doubt his temperament and his technique against short deliveries.....i cannot seriously believe those who talk about raina's defense because he has a compact technique.......he has slowed down in a lot of innings when the team requires him to....so type-casting him as "only" limited-overs player is foolish.........

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mohit, plz understand that I am not trying to ridicule Raina in any way. In fact, I like his naturally aggressive persona. The only thing I want to point out that he is becoming a compulsive puller and the habit has become too repetitive to be called an ocassional occurence. Yes, he has delivered most of the times that the team has called upon him but then you can't keep repeating your mode of dismissal to such an extent? It isn't just 2-3 times, but much, much more often than that. Yes, the team management has been a bit irresponsible by making him dance in the batting order and spoiling his game to some extent> this cannot be argued > I agree when you say that Raina at 5/6 is wasting a talent capable of delivering a lot more...the number 3/4 slot should be his for at least 25 matches before making judgements :)

    ReplyDelete

Please Share Your Thoughts...

Mental Health Battles, Confessions

Opinions About Everything