Suresh Raina: India's unsung ODI hero

The left-hander's contribution in India's charge to the World Cup semi-final has been immense. But he rarely gets the plaudits he deserves

In January earlier this year, Suresh Raina played the most forgettable match of his somewhat fitful Test match career. In a match where debutant K L Rahul and Virat Kohli notched up centuries, Raina left the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) with his reputation as a candidate for India’s middle order in tatters. Two scores of naught with just four balls faced — that’s what Raina could manage in a match that was seen as a glorious opportunity for him to cement his place in the Indian Test side. 

This Thursday, two and a half months on from that dismal outing, Raina will walk into the same arena against the same opposition brimming with confidence. The only slight difference — instead of white, he will be donning fulgent blue. It’s funny how a different format brings out the best in a player. It’s even funnier how some still feel that Raina has a point to prove every time he walks out to bat in a one-day international (ODI) game for India.

In Sydney in January, Raina was caught behind after reaching out for a Shane Watson delivery well outside his off stump. There is a fair probability he will end up playing the same shot to a similar ball on Thursday. The chances are, that the ball, instead of landing into Brad Haddin’s gloves this time, will go whistling past the cover fielder and then crash into the fence.

The difference between Raina - the ODI batsman and Raina - the Test match batsman is gargantuan. Almost unreal. In the last few years, Raina, along with Kohli, has been one of India’s most consistent matchwinners. He has time and again shown what a dependable limited-overs batsman he is. Yes, the short ball is a problem. He is not the worst hooker of a cricket ball in the world, but there are times when his keenness to play that shot lets him down. But more often than not, he finds a way out, exhibiting a dazzling range of stroke play that is almost unrivalled in the limited-overs game today.

On flat subcontinent pitches, Raina is the kind of batsman that any bowler would dread bowling to. Overseas, Raina, although a tad less lethal, is equally effective. In India’s first World Cup game against Pakistan, when the team needed quick runs at the end, Raina stood up. Against Zimbabwe a few weeks later, with India staring down the barrel in pursuit of 288, Raina stood up again, scoring a measured hundred that saw India clinch a sixth straight victory. In the quarter-final against Bangladesh, Raina went after the opposition bowling as Rohit Sharma held the innings together at the other end. He may not be extolled the same way as Kohli or Sharma, but his services to the Indian team are indispensable.

Raina’s ability to score swiftly in the middle without taking too many risks is what makes him special. He is the glue that holds the Indian middle-order together. The power and finesse that he brings to the final overs of an innings have helped India post big totals in the World Cup. Add to that his fielding and his uncanny knack of picking up crucial wickets with his off-spin. There is little that Raina cannot do. There still may be doubters, but Raina, in a lot of ways, is the man who makes India tick. Without him, India would not be the ODI force it is today. Even if he fails at the SCG on Thursday, Suresh Raina, is undoubtedly, India’s unsung ODI hero.