Suresh Raina reveals he has been batting on Astroturf to counter short balls
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
'I'm working on bouncers'
Mumbai: Hailed as a serious talent by both Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina realizes that he hasn’t quite set the international cricket on fire but the talent is unmistakable.
After striking a purple patch in the IPL-II, he was expected to take his batting a notch higher in the World Twenty20. But instead the script went horribly wrong in the tournament; in five matches he could only manage 20 runs. The disturbing aspect of his batting in that tour was that none of his innings lasted even for 10 deliveries.
“I think some of the shots didn’t quite come off well,” said Raina. Was it a case of too many shots too early? “Wrong shot selection was also responsible for my quick exit. On couple of occasions, I played hook shot to balls that were wide outside the off stump and paid the price for it,” he readily admits.
Fighting fit
Back in the India team, Raina is hungry to get back among the runs with his brand of power cricket. “Post World Twenty20 I’ve been working very hard at my fitness and my thumb injury has also healed completely. I’ve been doing a lot of running, especially cross-country training to keep myself fit,” said Raina.
Chin music
The 22-year-old lad has also been spending hours at the nets to work on his reflexes and footwork. After his susceptibility to bouncer was found out by international bowlers in England, Raina has resorted to cross-training. “I have been working a lot on short deliveries with my coach Deepak Sharma in the Lucknow sports hostel. Last few weeks I’ve been batting on the Astroturf surface of the hockey stadium present within the hostel premises. It offers good bounce and ball travels faster. We have also been using hockey balls for the same reason,” elaborates Raina on his preparation for the coming season.
Left-arm fast bowler RP Singh, who will be spearheading India’s bowling attack in the coming tournaments, has been feeding Raina with his signature bouncers on the Astroturf. “Batting against the likes of RP has helped me during my training. I’m sure this hard work will stand me in good stead in the coming tournaments,” said the left-hand batsman.
Dreaming big
As against 10 half-centuries, Raina has only two centuries to his credit in the 65 ODIs that he has played for India. “This is one area of my batting that I’m working on. I need to score big when I get a start,” he candidly admits. With experience he will surely learn the importance of staying at the wicket — a lesson that Yuvraj has learnt well.
Is there pressure from other youngsters who are threatening to catch up? “International cricket is all about pressure and mental toughness to handle pressure cooker situation. You need to feel positive all the time to give your best. I’m just looking to do my job for the team and do it well. I’m sure other things can take care of itself,” Raina holds his ground.
Any plan for the longer version of the game? “I haven’t set any year as a target to make it to the Test team, but I’m mentally ready. Even if the opportunity comes in 2009, I’m ready to play Test cricket,” Raina offers a straight bat.
With talent and time on his side, it will surely come his way.
