114 out of Suresh Raina‘s 322 international matches (including ODI and Test debuts) across formats have come with senior batter Virender Sehwag also in the Indian Playing XI. Suresh Raina, who represented India 10 times under Sehwag (including T20I debut) as well, benefited from his suggestions both on and off the field.
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One of the pioneering figures when it comes to going all guns blazing against the new ball in Test cricket, one doesn’t need to provide any rationale behind Sehwag’s multiple achievements in the format.
Therefore, it isn’t surprising that Sehwag brought Test cricket’s undemanding nature for attacking batters into Raina’s knowledge as revealed by the latter in a discussion with former India batter Aakash Chopra on Sports18‘s special segment called ‘Home Of Heroes’ last year.
“Yeh sabse easy format hai. Jo stroke player hai, thoda technique acha ho, time acha ho, fitness acha ho aur khraab time bhi aayega. Jab acha time hai, runs banaate raho [This is the easiest format for stroke players. All you need is good technique, timing and fitness. You will face bad patches as well. Keep scoring runs when you’re in good form],” Raina told Sports18.
Much like fellow left-handed middle-order attacking batter Yuvraj Singh’s Test career, even Raina’s foray into the ancestral format didn’t yield optimum results. In spite of scoring a century (on debut) and two half-centuries in his first four Test innings, Raina not capitalizing on averaging 103 in that period saw him getting dropped after seven failures within just over a couple of months.
Replaced by debutant Cheteshwar Pujara in the second Test of India’s tour of South Africa 2010, Raina made a comeback into the Playing during India’s subsequent assignment in West Indies the following year.
Just when another brief purple patch comprising four half-centuries in as many matches was about to lay out Raina’s potential as a Test batter, he averaged 9.44 across nine innings to fall of the cliff again. Raina, meanwhile, also missed home Tests against West Indies and Test series in Australia before returning for New Zealand Tests in 2012.
Suresh Raina Has No Regrets Of Unfulfilled Test Career
Dropped for England Tests later that year, Suresh Raina then missed a total of 22 Tests in a row which consisted of home series against Australia and West Indies and tours of South Africa and New Zealand.
Backed by then-team director Ravi Shastri, Mr. IPL was given “one last chance” in Test cricket during India’s tour of Australia 2014-15. Post warming the bench in the first three Tests, Raina was handed an opportunity in the format after 29 months. Interestingly, this time, it was Raina’s turn to replace Pujara in the Playing XI in the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“Regret nahin hua, to be honest. Mujhe last Test mein mauka mila tha Sydney mein. Main dono zero pe out ho gaya tha. Test match bachaa rahe the. Woh Mitchell Starc pe out hua. Woh do zero se lagaa ki abhi yeh white-ball player hai [No regrets regarding my Test career. I had got an opportunity in Sydney. I got out on zero in both the innings. We were saving the match. Mitchell Starc dismissed me. The selectors then thought of me as a white-ball player],” Raina added.
Raina, who lasted for a combined total of four balls across both the innings, registered a pair to never play another Test in his career. 20 months before announcing retirement from international cricket, Raina’s last first-class match was a Ranji Trophy 2018-19 contest for Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow.
