Suresh Raina Recalls Motivating Words From Rahul Dravid After Golden Duck On ODI Debut

Suresh Raina endured a much fulfilling run in the limited-overs format than Test cricket. Raina, recently called time on his international career, and in one of the interviews recalled how he got out on a duck on his ODI debut. He also added that the then captain Rahul Dravid arrived to his rescue and motivated him.

Raina made his ODI debut in Dambulla against Sri Lanka in 2005. Raina said that after getting out for a duck Dravid walked up to him and consoled him. Dravid told him that he could get out on a duck in successive matches to follow but you’re good as a fielder and its your time to show me something.

“Really learned a lot from Rahul bhai…When I got out for zero in Dambulla, I was sad and was speaking to Irfan and Dhoni bhai….Then Rahul bhai came in and said, ‘what happened to you, why you sad?. When you play the next match, you might get out in zero, then again in the next match, you might fall for zero again’. I said, ‘no Rahul bhai, but I am disappointed. I got a chance to play for my country,” Raina told Cricbuzz.

“My whole family is watching, my friends are watching…He said, ‘No, I heard you field very well, come on just show me something….I thought I was part of the team, he wants me to do something special for the country. Then I ran out (Marvan) Attapatu, then Zaheer bhai hugged me, Rahul bhai hugged me. Then I felt, I belong to this family and can play for a longer period of time. Those days were brilliant. Those days were fun,” he added.

Out-of-favour India batsman Suresh Raina also called time on his career on Independence Day. Raina will however continue to be an integral part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise. The top-order batsman followed the path which MS Dhoni chose as he also announced his retirement on Instagram.