India’s middle-order batsman Suresh Raina has credited Sachin Tendulkar for improving his technique against the short pitch bowling. Suresh Raina said on Monday that former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar helped him overcome the shortcomings against short pitch bowling.
Raina spoke about his weaknesses against the short-pitch bowling and how he has been working on it to improve his attacking game. Raina told the official website of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he has been working hard with former Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Praveen Amre.
“People have been talking about the short ball for years now. But I have come a long way. I worked hard with Sachin paaji at the BKC and with [Pravin] Amre sir as well. I believe I have improved a lot in that regards and it shows in the way I have been playing the bouncer for quite a while now,” Raina told the official website of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Raina also spoke about his failure in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2014-15.
“It was very important. In Sydney I played my first Test after more than two years and didn’t score a run. That hit me real bad. Everyone in the team tried to cheer me up saying ‘it’s okay, it was hard luck’. But I was really disappointed. I was just stunned. It felt like a bad dream,” Raina told the official website of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
In the last 2 years or so, Raina has cemented his place in India’s middle-order in limited overs cricket. Suresh Raina usually bats at no. 5 for India in ODI cricket and his ability to counter-attack and score runs freely has allowed MS Dhoni to bat more freely. Raina, who came in to bat when India were in a spot of bother, played well with Rohit Sharma in the second match of the ongoing triangular series. Raina added 126 runs for the fourth wicket with Rohit Sharma, who scored his sixth century in One-Day Internationals (ODIs).
Talking about the partnership, Raina said:
“When I went in to bat today I had many overs and all I thought of was to get a good partnership going with Rohit. We did that and the momentum was good but we couldn’t get too many runs after that. Rohit batted really well. When someone scores an outstanding hundred like that and you get a big partnership going, the team gets a platform to build on. We need to learn how to take advantage of that. We will have to win such matches because in the latter stages of the World Cup we will be faced with such situations more often. The boys are getting used to it and I am sure they will improve.”
***
By The Cricket Lounge
