Suresh Raina - Highly underrated ODI batsman?

[Hawkeye]

^The only teams included in above stats:
Australia, SA, NZ, SL, WI, Eng, PAK & Ind

 

[Thivagar]

So does Mathews, but thankfully players improve.

No he ain't

 

[Sandeep]

For all those questioning Raina's finishing ability - you also need to consider the fact that doesn't give Raina many opportunities and finishes off most of the matches by himself.

 

[Varun]

Raina is an awesome ODI player, what's all the fuss about.

I'm not bothering flipping back and reading the previous page - is the criticism that he failed a couple of damp tests in England?

 

[Mamoon]

Other than Mathews and Sangakkara, SL and Pakistan combined don't have a single ODI batsman better than Raina.

 

[Saurav]

Raina is an awesome ODI player, what's all the fuss about.

I'm not bothering flipping back and reading the previous page - is the criticism that he failed a couple of damp tests in England?

His overseas ODI record is also not good AFAIK

 

[Varun]

His overseas ODI record is also not good AFAIK

Well duh, he's an Indian and plays 2/3rd of his games in India.

Still won us the England series this summer, and also performed well in NZ and SL at times in the past IIRC.

 

[supernova]

Lol okay excluding minnows makes Umar Akmal shine even more.

Raina:

Total innings: 175
Won & not out: 21
Runs: 803 with 0 ton and 6 50s
Wins/innings ratio: 0.12 (higher the better)
Average in wins as finisher: 803/21 = 38.2

Umar Akmal:

Total innings: 88
Won & not out: 9
Runs: 362 with 1 ton and 2 50s
Wins/innings ratio: 0.10
Average in wins: 362/9 = 40.2

The difference of win/inning ratio lessens between them when you exclude minnows and both win & finish matches at the same rate.

However, Umar has scored more runs and has a ton as well doing that.

This is the most misleading stat ever to be based upon.
Just because you put 362/9 is more than 803/21 doesnt mean its better.
It just means raina finished the job before he could score more runs.
He could have gone on if he had the overs or the target was more.
How can you even tell 40.2 > 38.2 so umar > raina.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Another pressure situation.

Another gusty and classy effort from Raina.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

He seemed to really struggle with the short ball in the game against West Indies. Was that just a bad day at the office or is it technical weakness?

 

[Enforcer]

He seemed to really struggle with the short ball in the game against West Indies. Was that just a bad day at the office or is it technical weakness?

Big technical weakness. Good confident player, but serious weakness against short deliveries.

 

[SamNJ]

He seemed to really struggle with the short ball in the game against West Indies. Was that just a bad day at the office or is it technical weakness?

He is technically weak and even those who don't watch cricket know about it.

 

[zubair007]

Raina is a gun player. Yes, short balls are his weakness but he has worked on that a lot and is much better than he was before. He has practiced ducking, swaying away, sometimes getting on top of the bounce, and sometimes hooking/pulling. There are and will be times when he will get himself into a tangle.
Every batsman has some technical shortcoming. Kohli is susceptible outside off, so was Gavaskar. Sehwag had no foot movement. The less I speak about Umar Akmal the better. By the way, how many batsmen like a 90 mph+ ball coming at their heads?
It is not about one's weaknesses. It is about how one either overcomes them, or works around them, or a combination of both. The results should speak for themselves.
Top effort yesterday.

 

[cricket.mad]

Has most probably made a third match winning innings in this world cup..first aganist pakisthan,then aganist zimbabwe and today..what a gun player

 

[Bhaijaan]

Clutch playa!


Did it again for India today.

 

[Cricket-passion]

Raina is definitely one of the best ODI batsmen going around but I find it surprising that he is pretty underrated on this forum and amongst general cricket.

He is an indispensible batter in ODIs and has quite a few match-winning innings under his belt.

Not to forget,he is one of the best fielders in the world as well. Saves around 15-20 runs every match.

Discuss.

I feel he is more lucky than talented. Always comes on the other side of decision that goes in his favor by a whisker. He gives chances, in the slips, can be trapped lbw as he falls towards his off-side

 

[Buffet]

He is a clutch player. His average is meaningless. I have seen him playing so many clutch knock now. In the last WC, dude played well and made very crucial runs in QF+semis if my memories served me right.

 

[Electron]

Raina is a big match-winner. Never gets those MOMs, but that doesn't matter. He is a game-changer.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Meh.

Umar Akmal is better.

 

[IndianWillow]

I feel he is more lucky than talented. Always comes on the other side of decision that goes in his favor by a whisker. He gives chances, in the slips, can be trapped lbw as he falls towards his off-side

Luck does not keep favouring you for a decade. All ODI knocks involve some chances. Big chanceless knocks in ODIs are not very common.

 

[ForeverIndian]

Meh.

Umar Akmal is better.

Obviously.

I don't know why people can't see this.

 

[rhony]

I feel he is more lucky than talented. Always comes on the other side of decision that goes in his favor by a whisker. He gives chances, in the slips, can be trapped lbw as he falls towards his off-side

Haha. Lucky.. that's the explanation us mere mortals want to give when things don't go our way. Haha

 

[rhony]

Meh.

Umar Akmal is better.

Yep. When he's not under pressure. Raina is clutch

 

[Lords]

Meh.

Umar Akmal is better.

You know the drill, any batsman who gets compare with UA starts performing well. UA has made more careers of other batsman then anyone else. Thank you Umar bhai, i hope he gets compared to lot other players.

 

[Lords]

Yep. When he's not under pressure. Raina is clutch

Jokes aside, technically and capability wise yes it looks like UA got upper hand. He makes you feel like he is wasting his true potential by throwing away when most needed.

On the other hand Raina is limited but useful and plays a good role which is assigned to him.

 

[Qadeer]

Good player and very easy on the eye too

 

[sachintendulkar76]

Meh.

Umar Akmal is better.

better in what? dont give me this better talent bullcrap..

 

[Mamoon]

Has always been a terrific ODI cricketer.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

better in what? dont give me this better talent bullcrap..

Its called sarcasm buddy.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Good days are back.

#AcheDin

Raina back in form.

 

[The Viper]

You should be back in the team: Rohit Sharma to Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina at one point was one of the most dependable batsmen in the Indian team in limited-overs cricket. Coming in to bat in the middle order, Raina was often tasked with finishing a chase or pushing the run rate up in the death overs and he would come up with the goods.

His knocks against Australia and Pakistan in the knock-out stages of the ICC World Cup 2011 were crucial in paving the way for India to reach the summit clash.

Raina though lost his regular place in the team soon after the 2015 ICC World Cup and has since found it difficult to cement his place in either the ODIs or T20Is.

He though remains a crucial player for Chennai Super Kings in IPL. Recently the southpaw spoke to Indian limited-overs team vice-captain Rohit Sharma during an Instagram live session. Rohit admitted that he and the management feels that Raina should be a part of the team due to his vast experience and all-round capabilities.

“I know it is very tough to be out of the team after playing for so many years. We used to talk that we should have Raina in the team in some way. You have the experience and ability with bowling and fielding.

“I feel that we have seen you play for such a long time, somewhere I feel that somehow or the other you should be back in the team. But then we will see, we make do with what we have in our hands,” Rohit Sharma told Suresh Raina in the Instagram live session.

Raina has scored 5615 runs in 226 ODIs, scoring 5 centuries and 36 half-centuries. He was also India’s first centurian in T20 internationals and has played 78 T20Is for India. The left-handed batsman said he needs the support of big players to make a comeback.

“I had an injury and a surgery which was a big reason why I lost my place. I still have a lot of cricket left in me. Selection is not in our hands, performances are. I have always enjoyed my cricket and the big players always backed us when we were young. So that is what we need, someone to support us and show the way.”

Raina was an integral part of the team under MS Dhoni’s captaincy who reposed a lot of faith in him. He has also played 18 Test matches for India but his problems against short ball curtailed his stint in red-ball cricket for India.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...uresh-raina/story-dU8a1OO5zvvsQV4y8P0k5I.html

 

[Saurav]

Easily better than Jadhav

 

[BoomBoomCricket]

Useful late middle order cameos from him in 2011 and 2015 WC games vs Pak.

 

[Hasan123]

A very good ODI player in his day. Should have achieved more with his talent.