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suresh raina is on a staple diet...

by straight point

its not easy being great... for that you must have an insatiable hunger for runs... every time you step on to the field you must shoulder the weight of expectations... of not only the fans but more importantly your own... in short you need to do a sachin... over 20 years non stop...

if you want be a great batsman that is... not necessarily of sachinesque level... not everyone can be... but at least there must be something burning inside you that keeps you going... challenging you to run that extra mile... so that when time comes knocking at your door... you have the presence of mind... skill and urge to grab it with both hands...

but alas when the same opportunity presented itself to raina... he said... "boss i am on a staple diet of 40 odd runs..."

when he took guard india were in a spot of bother... having lost kohli and dhoni in quick succession and ever increasing asking rate... half an hour or so and the world would see why he should be feared... he not only started delivering the knock out punch but virtually floored the opponent to submission... one bite more and he would have had him... suddenly he noticed that the stomach is heavy and he is just about to cross the diet program his mind designed for him when he was at leisure... and he let it go...

no don't say his dismissal was 50-50 that could have gone either way... its the manner in which he batted for couple of overs before getting out... one could see it coming... one could see that he was losing it... the focus... the concentration... and the way he played afridi's over before getting out confirmed that to me that he is not going to survive more...

he had them on the mat... he had the chance to be a hero but let it go for his staple diet... raina has this problem since he made his debut four years ago... inspite of him being dropped on occasions and fighting his way back the problem persists... part of the problem is the reason that you know there is no one in the team to challenge your spot... and the other part is in his mind which refuses to be challenged... refuses to answer uncomfortable questions... and explore regions beyond the set boundary line...

so next time you see him throwing away the possible glory do not burn yourself with unnecessary emotions coz it was always meant that way...

take it or leave it...

4 comments:

Shailesh said...

Wow, thats a new point of view SP - have always admired your analysis and ideas.
I had been all praise for Raina - till now, that is. And I agree with your refreshing point of view that it is important to raise our bar instead of just ensuring your bit by getting a 40-odd bar-bar.

It was a nice analysis of how he just threw it away, and how the Afridi over indicated the beginning of his end.

Allow me to play Devil's advocate here for just one point though - I'd like to give him the benefir of doubt that he might himself be willing to play the great, finisher kinda innings that he can (and he did in SL last year with MSD). Maybe it's just a mental transition he needs to make and it might just be taking him longer to curb his risk-heavy, high risk-little gain shots at the most unnecessary and ill-timed moments.
Hope he knows he can be our next batting great (most importantly, hope he himself wants to do it) because he sure has the game to carry it off (except improvement required on the short-pitched stuff). It's just a temperamental thing and let's give him just some more time to get sorted with this sooner than later/never.

straight point said...

thanks shailesh for the overwhelming praise...

like you i too am eagerly waiting for him to take that step for one i know that he is far destructive and even far more skilled than he allow himself to be...

scorpicity said...

He and GG went blazing... GG was high on some thing.

Bhaskar Khaund said...

Good post SP, i agree abt the need to raise it to the next level , but in the context of yesterday, i'd say thats a bit harsh...cudnt have been easy at that stage...AC to me ,we were losing it by the 45th over of Pak inn,almost lost it when SRT got out and completely lost it when GG did....never easy chasing 300 in an Ind-Pak game ..blame it on the fu***ing 'bowlers' who did it again for us