Suresh Raina Cites One Main Reason Why Team Of His Era Won ICC Trophies And Why The Current Indian Team Is Struggling

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina has cited one main reason why the team of his era managed to win three ICC trophies and why the current Indian team is struggling in limited-overs cricket and failed to go past the league stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE.

Raina, one of the best-limited overs players produced by India, retired from international cricket in 2020 at the age of 33 to the shock of many, as he still had some years left in him. He continued to play in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings, but that part of his career also came to an end, when he went unsold in the recent IPL 2022 mega auction.

He was part of the Indian team’s ICC triumphs in the 2011 World Cup at home and the 2013 Champions Trophy win in England. He missed the 2007 T20 World Cup as he was out with a knee injury.

In a recent interaction with The Indian Express at Idea Exchange, the veteran cricketer made interesting observations about the current setup and also pointed out the reason behind the team’s poor show in the previous edition of World T20st, which was played in UAE and Oman last year.

Suresh Raina Explains Why The Indian Team Of His Era Won ICC Trophies

Raina explained the availability of multiple players, who could bat and as well roll their arms, as one of the main reasons behind their triumph in the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, citing the examples of Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and himself.

“I think this is why we won the 2007 World T20, the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. When I started in Ranji, I remember our coach Gyanu bhai (Gyanendra Pandey) would always tell us, ‘you should bowl.’ It gives a captain the ability to get in eight-ten overs if he has a sixth or seventh bowling option, when he is playing only five bowlers. That is good planning. So you see Viru paa (Sehwag), Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan and me, including in the 2011 World Cup, all would bowl,” Raina told Indian Express.

He said that the lack of a sixth bowling option hampered India’s chances in the 2017 Champions Trophy and the reason behind their poor performance in the T20 world Cup as well.

“When we lost in the Champions Trophy (2017), or even recently in Dubai (in the T20 World Cup), we did not have a sixth bowling option. Now Shreyas Iyer is working on his bowling, I think he should keep working hard. Rohit will have a good option then.

In the South Africa series, recently, Aiden Markram was bowling six-eight overs upfront, and the main bowlers were coming in later. This is a big factor for the Indian team. Suryakumar Yadav can bowl as well. Even Rohit would bowl before his injury. So someone will have to step in, and bowl at least six-eight overs regularly in nets,” he further stated.

Suresh Raina went unsold in the IPL 2022 mega auction potentially bringing an end to his illustrious IPL career in which he scored over 5500 runs in 205 matches.

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