Former Indian Cricketer Thinks Suresh Raina Might Return To National Colours
Published - 23 Aug 2020, 06:19 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:33 AM
Former India left-arm paceman RP Singh was left surprised by Suresh Raina’s spontaneous decision to announce retirement from international cricket. Along with former captain MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina retired from international cricket last Saturday. Nevertheless, RP Singh does not rule out Raina’s comeback to the national colours as soon as possible.
Suresh Raina last played for India in 2018 and was one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in limited-overs cricket. The 33-year old was part of India’s squad in the 2011 Cricket World Cup, playing chief roles in the quarter-final and semi-final of the tournament, playing 226 ODIs in total. Due to Raina’s weakness against short-pitched deliveries, he fell out of favour.
RP Singh highlighted that he has played a lot with Suresh Raina for Uttar Pradesh in the domestic circuit. The retired seamer stated that Raina might have felt that his chances of coming back to the Indian team might have been minimal. The same could have played a significant part in the southpaw, making the decision.
“With Raina, I have played a lot of cricket since junior days. As far as Raina’s retirement is concerned people are saying it is a little too early. I guess everyone has to think individually in terms of how physically fit one is, what chances of a comeback they have with regards to the Indian team. That must have played its part in Raina’s decision,” RP Singh said as quoted by Hindustan Times.
“Suresh Raina must have thought deeply about all the factors” : RP Singh
The 34-year old went on to say that Raina can score 1000 runs in the upcoming IPL edition and comes out of retirement. However, RP Singh felt that the left-handed batsman might have pondered about all the factors deeply and decides to play in the overseas T20 leagues. The former seamer elaborated that he felt shocked by the 33-year old to hang up his boots since he expressed his desire to play Test cricket again.
“Who knows if he gets 1000 runs in IPL and then decides to continue again. But when you take a decision to quit you think hard. Raina must have thought deeply about all the factors. Who knows he might explore overseas leagues like Yuvraj did in Canada. There is nothing wrong in that. What surprised me was the suddenness of his decision. Just recently, he was saying that he wanted to make a comeback in Test cricket. I heard him saying that in his interaction with Irfan Pathan,” he added.