Mediaboss Marketing

In nearly two decades of cricket reporting, it is still easily one of the more bizarre sights this writer has witnessed.

It was December 2006 in Centurion, with South Africa having an unassailable 3-0 lead in the one-day international (ODI) series with India.

Ahead of the final match, several of the Indian players knew that they would soon be on a flight back home, with no part to play in the Test series to follow.

One of them was Suresh Raina, such a breath of fresh air on his introduction to the side a year earlier.

__________________________________

Read more

IPL 2017: Basil Thampi, Nitish Rana among many young Indian players making waves

Suresh Raina stars as Gujarat Lions pick up second win of IPL 2017 against Kolkata Knight Riders

Misbah and Khan set to lead Pakistan Test side one last time in Windies series

__________________________________

Now, with Indias batsmen all at sea in seam-friendly conditions, Raina was being singled out as an example of everything that was wrong with Greg Chappells coaching methods.

It had been less than 18 months earlier that Rahul Dravid, soon to be appointed captain after the axing of Sourav Ganguly, spotted Raina at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Within weeks, he and Chappell had ensured that Raina, 19, was fast-tracked into the India squad, and a debut in Sri Lanka.

But in alien conditions, and with the first flush of form having deserted him, Raina looked hopeless, especially against the short ball directed at the body.

Away from the main practice area at Centurion, even as his teammates were packing up, Raina was wielding a stump and facing Ian Frazer, Chappells assistant, who was throwing a golf ball at him from 10 yards away.

For Chappell, Raina was the prototype of the young cricketer he wanted to mould young, selfless, enthusiastic, and with an impeccable work ethic.

He was firm in his belief that the skill deficit could be bridged. And he was not the only one.

In May 2007, nearly half a year after he had been dropped, Lawrence Booth now editor of the Wisden Cricketers Almanack wrote of Raina: "The way he dismantled England during an ODI in Faridabad in March 2006 hinted at a rare genius, and Greg Chappell never stopped singing his praises. Aged 20, he has plenty of time on his side."

That was in a Wisden Cricketer feature on the 10 cricketers who would "define" cricket in the next decade. There was no mention of MS Dhoni to put this in context.

If he was stuck with the label of "Chappells boy" in his initial years and he was so sensitive about it that he refused to answer any questions about his coach-mentor during an interview with this writer in 2010 Raina soon came to be identified as part of the "Dhoni camp", whatever that meant.

From the inception of the Indian Premier League in 2008 until the time the Chennai Super Kings were banned for two seasons after the 2015 season, Raina was a fixture in canary yellow.

More often than not, he was brilliant. In each of the first seven seasons, he topped 400 runs, at a strike-rate in excess of 140, the only batsman to do so.

And it wasnt as though he owed his India place to Dhoni and his exploits in Chennai either. When the definitive account of Indian cricket is written, it will record that Raina played two of the most important cameos in the countrys history.

Without his 34 not out in the quarter-final against Australia who hadnt lost a knockout game in the showpiece event since 1996 and 36 in the semi-final against Pakistan, there would have been no Indian World Cup win in 2011.

But with the emergence of a new power generation, weaned on the IPL and overseas tours with the A team, Raina has slipped down the pecking order to such an extent that he no longer possesses a central contract.

His last Test appearance was in January 2015 and his last ODI appearance was against South Africa in Mumbai in October 2015.

With ill health, his own and his infant daughters, plaguing him, he was a peripheral figure in the Indian domestic season. Some in the Indian cricketing fraternity went to the extent of saying he had lost his appetite for the game.

Raina scoffs at that notion. In his last international outing, a Twenty20 international against England in February, he scored a 45-ball 63 that included five sixes.

In six IPL matches, he has 243 runs off just 164 balls. With a major tournament looming, it would be a shock if he was not at least considered for the squad.

Still just 30, his race is far from run.

Things to watch for in the Indian Premier League this week

Malingas struggle

Like Raina, Lasith Malinga has been one of the IPLs central figures, absolutely central to the Mumbai Indians title triumphs in 2013 and 2015.

He had not played since, missing the entire 2016 campaign through injury. The road back this season started well enough, but has since encompassed two poor games, among the worst of a storied career.

First, the Gujarat Lions left him with figures of one for 51. After that, the Kings XI Punjab batsmen cashed in to the tune of 58 runs, without a wicket, from his four overs.

With Mumbai top of the table, no panic buttons are being pushed. But if the trend continues, Malinga the leagues leading wicket-taker with 147 could find himself in an unfamiliar role on the sidelines.

Has Uthappas time come and gone?

When he should have been picked for Indias Twenty20 squad, after a stellar 2014 IPL season that saw him score 660 runs at a strike-rate of 137.78, Robin Uthappa was ignored.

Shikhar Dhawan, who has always struggled to come to grips with the format, continued in the Indian team, and Uthappa, whose returns dipped in 2015, did not make the team for the World Twenty20 on home soil in 2016. After another underwhelming season in 2016, he has roused himself with 174 runs at a strike-rate of 161 in five innings this season.

At 31, it would be a surprise if the selectors turned to him. But with the ability to keep wicket as well, all Uthappa can do is keep churning out the runs.

Tripathis moment of fame

Right from season one, the IPL has provided 15 minutes of fame, and sometimes more, for journeymen cricketers.

Swapnil Asnodkar starred for Rajasthan Royals in their title-winning season. Paul Valthaty struck a memorable hundred for Kings XI Punjab in 2011. And Kamran Khan, who is now back to farming, enjoyed a brief spell in the limelight with left-arm slingshots that were subsequently ruled illegal.

Now, we have Maharashtras Rahul Tripathi, whose white-ball record in domestic cricket is even more modest than his first-class stats.

But after starting the season with 10, 33 and 31 Tripathi smashed a 32-ball half-century against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the defending champions.

At 26, chances are that he is another Asnodkar rather than an India prospect, but for a faltering Pune side, he is proved an inspired opening gambit.

sports@thenational.ae

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport

The rest is here:
IPL 2017: Suresh Raina's heroics for Gujarat Lions highlight his hunger for the game - The National