Suresh Raina is the Mr Sunshine of Indian cricket. Very few people can see the brighter side of life like him, and nothing can take away that ever-present smile on his face – not even the recent surprising decision by selectors to drop him from the Indian ODI team which is about to travel to Australia.
Not that the 29-year-old takes his place for granted in the team, but in the shorter formats of the game, very few of his team-mates can match his utility value. He comes in to bat at No6, a position that is dreaded among international batsmen in ODIs and T20s.
If the top-order has given a decent start, you do not have too many deliveries to get your eyes in and it is slam-bang cricket from the word go.
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And if the top-order fails, there is intense pressure because there are no specialist batsmen to come in after you.
Raina contributes much more than just runs at fast clip. He is an intelligent offspinner that gives the captain options in the bowling attack.
And to top it all, he is considered one of the finest fielders in the world. Fleet-footed with sure hands, Raina at point saves dozens of runs in each match. Not being picked up for the ODI tour of Australia should have also hurt Raina because he was a consistent performer for India during the World Cup there earlier this year.
But is there any sense of frustration in Raina? Absolutely not.
“I bat at a very difficult position. Runs don’t come very easily at No6. You get fewer opportunities, and then most of the time, I get to bat 15-20 balls in which I would like to score 40-odd runs. The selectors rely on statistics, and they can be swayed by the fact that I have scored just one fifty in the last five ODIs,” said Raina while speaking exclusively to Sport360° on a personal visit to Dubai.
“But I am completely fine with it. In fact, I like such setbacks in life. You get to learn more from failures and such incidents. I can assure you that when I am back in the team, I will be a better person, a better fighter. I will come out stronger.
“I am looking forward to the T20 World Cup, which is in India. And before that, we have a T20 series in Australia, followed by the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. I have to play for a new team in the next Indian Premier League (IPL).
“The next four-five months is my format. I am excited and I am working hard. I am going to make sure that I make a comeback into the team, and this time, I am not going out of it anytime soon.”
Suresh Raina @ImRaina is on our cover. Loved speaking to him – always looks at the brightest side of life! @Sport360 pic.twitter.com/16Vj0PDPfh
— Joy Chakravarty (@TheJoyofGolf) December 30, 2015
Another problem of batting at No6 is that fans tend to remember shorter knocks that have won his side matches more than his five centuries in the ODI format. In Raina’s case, two innings – 34 not out against Australia in the quarter-final and 36 not out against Pakistan in the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup – have become unforgettable.
“People remember it more because of the circumstances. It was the first time that we won a World Cup after 1983. There was a lot of expectation,” said Raina, who has scored 5,568 runs in 223 ODIs at a brilliant strike rate of 93.76.
“Those two knocks were crucial for me. They changed my career. I was like a soldier in a battalion. I felt I had to protect my mates and also get the better of the enemy. Against Australia, with MS (Dhoni) out, the responsibility was on me. I was determined to take India to semi-finals. And then the match against Pakistan is always something that you never want to lose.
“If people don’t remember my centuries, I can understand. I’d rather make a 25 in eight balls and help India win a match. That will always give me much more happiness and satisfaction than scoring a century and seeing India lose.”
The positive thinking helps Raina in every facet of his life, including fielding.
Congratulations Brendon McCullum on such an amazing career. We’ll miss an aggressive n fearless player #ThankYouBazz pic.twitter.com/MuP5Y7HqYO
— Suresh Raina™ (@ImRainaTeam) December 22, 2015
“It’s very simple… I expect that all 300 balls bowled in a 50-over match should come to me wherever I may be fielding,” said Raina.
“And the other thing that I feel is very important while fielding is involvement. You’ve got to keep cheering your teammates for good efforts, and you have to pat the bowler for a ball well bowled. You have to enjoy the success of everyone.
“I am not afraid of throwing myself around. I have had a knee operation, a broken collar bone and a fractured finger, but if the ball is trying to go past me, I will dive.
“But yes, cricket is a game of positives. You cannot have negative thoughts and play. A bowler cannot think before delivering ‘I shouldn’t bowl an in-swinger because Ricky Ponting will flick me for a four’, or ‘I shouldn’t bowl a yorker because Dhoni will hit his helicopter shot’.
“Of course, you plan, and then you play the game with a clear mind. You have to let your abilities and skills take over.”
Indian cricket fans have always had two things to say against Raina – one, he is suspect against short-pitched bowling, and two, he gets favourable treatment in the team because of his proximity to captain Dhoni.
“Honestly, people say a lot of things, but if these are the only two things they say about me, then I think I am lucky,” he said.
“Regarding the first one, tell me which batsman in world cricket is not suspect against short-pitched bowling? I believe I have worked hard to make myself better in handling that, and I believe I would not have been in international cricket for nearly 10 years if that was a real issue.
“As for my friendship with Dhoni, what can I say? Yes, he is a very good friend of mine. I made my debut in 2005, and he made his one year before me. Yes, we have been together with Chennai Super Kings for eight years, but just look at my record playing for them. Can anyone say that I did not deserve being a part of that team?
“I am lucky to have a captain like Dhoni who had such tremendous faith in me. And he knows exactly what I am capable of doing. As a captain, he wants a certain type of player around him. Not many players like to bat at No6, but I have never questioned whatever I have been asked to do. If he likes me for being selfless, then I am flattered.” So, how does Raina tackle such talk?
“I don’t even think about it. Really, it is not important for me. I can’t control what people say, I can only control what I can do. All I know is that I need to perform when I am on the field, so I work hard on that,” he added.
“I don’t even want to blame the fans. That is the nature of any sport lover. Tomorrow, if I go and win a match for India, the same people will praise me. They are all emotional. I know they do not have anything against me personally.”
