After plenty of cricketers and thousands of fans cherished the international career of Suresh Raina, well-known cricketing experts Tom Moody, Ian Bishop and Harsha Bhogle have expressed their opinions on the veteran southpaw of Indian cricket.
Raina bid farewell to the international arena on the auspicious occasion of India’s 74th Independence Day, minutes after his buddy MS Dhoni announced retirement.
In a video uploaded by the official Twitter handle of International Cricket Council (ICC), all the three cricket pundits can be seen showering praiseworthy comments for Raina.
Former Australian cricketer Moody hailed Raina as an exceptional player. He said that Raina is a kind of cricketer that every captain wants in their team.
“Suresh Raina has been an exceptional player for a long period of time for Team India and also for CSK during his time in the IPL. He is a player that every captain dreams of having in their playing XI,” said Moody.
Moody also stated that Raina knew how to finish games with patience and perhaps he would have learned this trick from his friend Dhoni.
“With the bat, he is a match-winner. He has got the ability to manipulate the strike but also got the ability to power hit and take the game away from the opposition and take on specific bowlers at specific times.
“He’s got the maturity and calmness to close games as well and you just wonder whether he’s learned a lot of that through his time with MS Dhoni,” the 54-year-old added.
After Moody, it was the turn of another excellent expert of the captivating game. Former West Indies cricketer Bishop regarded Raina as one of the new-gen Indian players who was superb in the outfield.
“He was one of a new generation of Indian players who were outstanding fielders. His agility, his quickness, his willingness to throw himself in the field and take spectacular catches, make exceptional stops, helped in paving the way to a successful generation,” said the cricketer-turned-commentator.
Bishop further articulated that Raina was a match-winner, especially in the shortest format of the game. He also narrated an interesting commendation Raina received from another T20 specialist Dwayne Bravo.
“In T20 cricket, he won so many games and helped to contribute in so many victories for his franchise teams, but perhaps the greatest compliment that I’ve heard for Suresh Raina was from Dwayne Bravo, someone who played alongside him for a long period of time. ”
“He (Bravo) said,’ Suresh Raina is one of the nicest human beings he’s ever come across’. And that speaks volumes in a high-pressure career where you are loaded by hundreds of thousands if not millions, Suresh was able to keep a great sense of humility. We should remember that,” added Bishop.
Veteran Indian commentator and analyst of the game Harsha too presented his thoughts on Raina and his contribution to the Indian team. Raina recalled why Jonty Rhodes – former South Africa cricketer and arguably the greatest fielder – considered Raina as his favourite Indian fielder.
“You ask Jonty Rhodes who he thinks India’s best fielders were and we always think of Yuvraj and Jadeja and Kaif, but it’s amazing why he (Rhodes) says, Raina. Because Raina could field anywhere, he was a very safe catcher in the slips. He was brilliant in the outfield and was so full of energy. He was a three-in-one player,” said Harsha.
“I think maybe in India, he could’ve done a little bit more because he was amongst the first players to have a hundred in Test cricket, ODIs and T20I cricket, but he became an outstanding player of cameos. ”
“You remember Raina for those fantastic T20 innings, you remember him during the 2011 World Cup coming in at 6 or 7, playing match-turning innings in 20-30-40 balls,” Harsha added.
Harsha also praised Raina for his immense contribution in the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
“In the IPL, he was a legend, year upon year in the IPL, Raina was your 400-run man. At his peak, he was routinely giving you 530, 540, 550 runs a year. To me, Raina of India – fine player, Raina of CSK – something else,” concluded Harsha.
💬 "He's a player that every captain really dreams of having in their playing XI." @TomMoodyCricket, @bhogleharsha and @irbishi on Suresh Raina and his legacy 👇 pic.twitter.com/mddTDbt2zC
— ICC (@ICC) August 19, 2020
