The postponement of T20 World Cup has left a serious question mark on some of the veteran stars who were looking at this year’s IPL tournament as a gateway to leave an impression and put their names in the hat for international team selection. The IPL will take place this year starting from September 18, but the tentative schedule for the World Cup has not yet been announced. Stars like South Africa’s AB de Villiers, West Indies’ Chris Gayle, South Africa’s Imran Tahir, and India’s MS Dhoni are some of the players whose future with their respective international team has now become a topic of debate.
Similarly, another India veteran star who’s comeback into the team has now become doubtful is Chennai Super Kings’ Suresh Raina. The left-hander has been one of the most successful players for the three-time IPL champions, and was a crucial member of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning campaign. But is there space for him in the Indian team at this moment?
Former Australia cricketer Brad Hogg was asked this question in his latest video on his Youtube channel ‘Hogg’s Vlog’. “Does Raina have a chance to make a comeback in Team India now that T20 World Cup is going to be push back?” one of the fans asked Hogg.
In his response, Hogg said: “Suresh Raina has been a revelation in Indian cricket. One of the better fielders we have seen at the world stage from India. He’s a fantastic left-handed batsman.”
Though Hogg said that India captain Virat Kohli is looking towards youngsters at the moment which might not leave space for Raina to be included. “But if you look at Indian line-up right now, where Virat Kohli wants to take it, he is looking at youngsters at the moment. And Shreyas Iyer has done reasonably well at no. 4 and that is where Raina is going to bat. I don’t see him batting lower down the order. He’s more of the batsman that comes in at no.3 or 4 and bats through the middle overs. I don’t think there is a role for him in Indian cricket.”
“The only way he could get a chance to make a comeback in T20 cricket is if they continue to open with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma and leave Shikhar Dhawan out, so he may have a slight chance there,” Hogg further said.
“But I don’t see Raina playing again and that’s a little disappointing to say,” the former Australia spinner added.
Raina has played 226 ODIs for India in which he has scored 5615 runs at an average of 35.31. He has also played 78 T20Is in which he has scored 1,605 runs at an average of 29.18. Raina also has an international T20 hundred in his record, which he scored in the 2010 T20 World Cup match against South Africa.
