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Suresh Raina - What is your opinion of him?

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Indian fans in particular what do you think of him.

Do you think he has fulfilled his potential? How much potential did he really have? I remember him making his debut in 2005 and was among the new breed of Indian cricketers who played fearless attacking cricket. Many tipped him to become a very accomplished player. He was brought in by Chappell as India's future iirc and was among the exciting batsmen along with Venugopoal Rao and Uthappa too i think.

Atleast in tests he has been a let down despite a good start. Average of 26 is poor.

But in ODIs he averages 36 at 94 SR so definitely has his worth and was great in the 2011 WC. As a comparison the much maligned Umar Akmal average 34 at 86 from the same/similar position
 
He is a clutch player and a very important part of the Indian ODI setup. He is the king of important cameos in big matches. A very good package - he runs hard, can play the big shots, rolls his arm over and is a brilliant fielder.

I am not sure if a comparison with Umar Akmal is valid for the number 6 position because I feel Umar Akmal generally gets to bat more overs and so has to play the role of a middle order batsman more than that of a lower-middle order batsman or a finisher.
 
Garbage test cricketer

Dream ODI cricketer (utility point of view).

He is amazingly clutch.

Played a crucial knock in WC QF 2011 to steer our team from 180-5 to chase down 260 odd. Perfect support to Yuvi.
Then saved us in the semi final.
Again in the WC QF 2015, he played a crucial knock against Bangladesh along with Rohit to save us and win the match for us.

Raina 2.0 seems to be getting more and more dangerous these days.

Seems to perform outside Asia these days too (who can forget his whirlwind 100 against England taking us from 100-4 to 300 with ease).

Let's see how long he can sustain this. Anyone can peak but its about sustaining it.
 
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My opinion
Poor test match player
Very Good odi player
Gun T20 player.
 
One of the best limited overs players in the world. A real all round MVP. Brilliant fielder and now does part time pretty well too.

People usually forget he's got over 5k runs in ODI cricket as a finisher. That's a pretty big deal.
 
Abysmal in tests.

Much better than his average suggests in ODIs. Not only in 2011 WC, but also in the game against Pakistan in 2015WC, it was Raina who really the player of the match for me.

He is someone who seems to bring out the best in big games as far as ODIs are concerned. But plays in an era when SRT,Kohli and MSD are in the team, so he'll always be living in their shadows.
 
His off spin is under rated (for a part timer).

Isn't good enough to bowl 10 oves every game but can surprise you on some days (by bowling 10 and picking crucial wickets).

Can bowl 4-5 tidy overs every game if you manage him well.
 
Well it was his innings in both games against Pakistan which caused us to lose. 2011 QF and 2015 Adelaide.
 
Excellent learner , Convert himself from ordinary to excellent cricketer(ODI and T20)
 
He is a captain's dream player in ODIs. Gives his all whatever he is doing, and is truly a team man.

Clutch player who will give you a cameo just when you need one. He should not be judges with Umar Akmal as both of them have different responsibilities.
 
Dangerous shorter format fielder .

Very good fielder also.

Can play match winning knocks easily down the order. Not afraid to go over the top.
 
Gun player. Won us countless matches single handedly. Deserves more chances in tests imo.
 
When he was playing for the U-19 side, Raina & the captain Rayudu were two players who were rated quite highly. Rayudu was in fact said to be better than him.



At first, when he played for India, he did decently down the order. Then he was promoted to no. 3 & flopped. He was subsequently dropped from the side. He spent quite a bit of time in domestic cricket & came back strongly. Never looked back after that though there were minor hiccups in between.
 
When he was playing for the U-19 side, Raina & the captain Rayudu were two players who were rated quite highly. Rayudu was in fact said to be better than him.



At first, when he played for India, he did decently down the order. Then he was promoted to no. 3 & flopped. He was subsequently dropped from the side. He spent quite a bit of time in domestic cricket & came back strongly. Never looked back after that though there were minor hiccups in between.

some i know claimed Rayadu to be the best Indian batting talent since Sachin (this is before Kohli ofcourse)
 
Garbage test cricketer

Dream ODI cricketer (utility point of view).

He is amazingly clutch.

Played a crucial knock in WC QF 2011 to steer our team from 180-5 to chase down 260 odd. Perfect support to Yuvi.
Then saved us in the semi final.
Again in the WC QF 2015, he played a crucial knock against Bangladesh along with Rohit to save us and win the match for us.

Raina 2.0 seems to be getting more and more dangerous these days.

Seems to perform outside Asia these days too (who can forget his whirlwind 100 against England taking us from 100-4 to 300 with ease).

Let's see how long he can sustain this. Anyone can peak but its about sustaining it.

Did you forget 2015 WC against Pakistan ?
 
IMO he is playing above his potential in LOI and upto his potential in tests.Never found him excited and him relying on his knees for big shots initially always made me dislike him.
But tbf he has improved a lot and also improved his ability to play bouncers now , hope he keeps helping us in LOIs with his clutch knocks.
 
After Dhoni, he was my favorite player. He played many superb knocks for his team. But, he didn't get that much respect, name, which he deserved tbh. Many times he was out of the team without any reason.
 
Very very clutch player in limited overs. Can build an innings and save his team from a collapse and at the same time can score runs at a surprisingly fast rate. I think he was a very important reason we lost to india in 2011 and 2015. The guy is great to watch too. Perfect middle order bat and akmal needs to learn from him
 
After Dhoni, he was my favorite player. He played many superb knocks for his team. But, he didn't get that much respect, name, which he deserved tbh. Many times he was out of the team without any reason.

he is still only 28.
 
Not a test class middle order batsman. He should be dropped permanently from the test team.

One of the best utility players in limited overs cricket. He can come up with big knocks under pressure, and in big matches.
 
My opinion of Suresh Raina is that he is an ugly, bottom handed hack who is hopeless against the short ball. He is effective for India and I'm sure India fans are happy with him in ODIs, but for a neutral observer he is not the most pretty batsman to watch.
 
My opinion of Suresh Raina is that he is an ugly, bottom handed hack who is hopeless against the short ball. He is effective for India and I'm sure India fans are happy with him in ODIs, but for a neutral observer he is not the most pretty batsman to watch.

Agreed...but pretty to watch batsmen sadly dont score often for us to enjoy (case in point ***** Sharma). There are very few exceptions like the great :srt
 
Brilliant ODI/T20 cricketer and extremely clutch as well. Very underrated player.
 
Agreed...but pretty to watch batsmen sadly dont score often for us to enjoy (case in point ***** Sharma). There are very few exceptions like the great :srt

My favourite Indian batsman right now would have to be Kohli. It's not just shot making ability, but also attitude and presence at the crease. This is why some ugly batsmen (Chanderpaul, G. Smith and S. Smith) are more likeable than others. Raina doesn't have that.
 
My opinion of Suresh Raina is that he is an ugly, bottom handed hack who is hopeless against the short ball. He is effective for India and I'm sure India fans are happy with him in ODIs, but for a neutral observer he is not the most pretty batsman to watch.

Watch this and tell me he is still only an ugly batsman:

 
My opinion of Suresh Raina is that he is an ugly, bottom handed hack who is hopeless against the short ball. He is effective for India and I'm sure India fans are happy with him in ODIs, but for a neutral observer he is not the most pretty batsman to watch.

Love watching Raina bat. Doesn't waste a ball to get going.
 
One of my favorite Indian players. A very good LOI player with a good head on his shoulders.
 
He can prove to be a quality Test batsman as well in Asia. Can play game-changing knocks.

India should persist with him if they fail to find a quality Test batsman in the mould of Kohli, Rahane and Pujara.
 
He can prove to be a quality Test batsman as well in Asia. Can play game-changing knocks.

India should persist with him if they fail to find a quality Test batsman in the mould of Kohli, Rahane and Pujara.

This is a BDesque post bro. ;-)

Raina can thump attacks on easier tracks but will get exposed on tougher tracks in tests.

Needs to stay away from the test arena no matter how desperate he is to play tests.

Already we are struggling with Rohitji. Can't take in Rainaji too.
 
This is a BDesque post bro. ;-)

Raina can thump attacks on easier tracks but will get exposed on tougher tracks in tests.

Needs to stay away from the test arena no matter how desperate he is to play tests.

That is why I said 'in Asia'. HTBs have their place in Test cricket, and I feel that Raina can prove to be too vital for India at home and in the subcontinent in general for him to be discarded because he will fail in Australia, South Africa, England etc. once in 3-4 years.
 
That is why I said 'in Asia'. HTBs have their place in Test cricket, and I feel that Raina can prove to be too vital for India at home and in the subcontinent in general for him to be discarded because he will fail in Australia, South Africa, England etc. once in 3-4 years.

Not sure about his skills on turners either.
 
Not sure about his skills on turners either.

when he started out did you think he was going to become a top, top player?

even in 2005/06 to me he looked far ahead of his peers like V. Rao, Uthappa etc.

I just think he is not the hardest worker. He got this tag of 'cant play short stuff' tag attached to him and I would say fairly but it seemd he never really did put in any effort to rectify those flaws. Thats just laziness. In terms of his performances and ability I dont think he has progressed that much at all over the course of his international career.
 
when he started out did you think he was going to become a top, top player?

even in 2005/06 to me he looked far ahead of his peers like V. Rao, Uthappa etc.

I just think he is not the hardest worker. He got this tag of 'cant play short stuff' tag attached to him and I would say fairly but it seemd he never really did put in any effort to rectify those flaws. Thats just laziness. In terms of his performances and ability I dont think he has progressed that much at all over the course of his international career.

When he started out, Raina was rated real high.

The temperament he showed in bailing us out during an India SL game (along with Dhoni) made me a huge fan.

I don't recall remembering him as a hitter (which I think he later transformed into).

After getting owned in Australia and then SA ODIs....Raina went and worked on his game with Praveen Amre (if I am not wrong). And soon Raina 2.0 was born (I know its sounds melodramatic) but really that last 2 last IPL...he looked so magical that people knew he was into something.

Then came the England tour (outside Asia where he rarely ever scores) and he performed marvellously there (ODIs). It was unlike the usual Raina who used to bully attacks in Asia and crumble outside

He figured out a way to deal with short pitch bowling.

And then carried on with his form everywhere including WC.

As for tests...he hasn't developed the skills to NOT get out to good balls which is why him, Yuvi and even Rohit are mostly a time waste in that format.
 
Can never escape the feeling that he is a bunny against the fast stuff.
BUT.....always comes good when the pressure is on: would chose him over miller, in an odi team.
 
when he started out did you think he was going to become a top, top player?

even in 2005/06 to me he looked far ahead of his peers like V. Rao, Uthappa etc.

I just think he is not the hardest worker. He got this tag of 'cant play short stuff' tag attached to him and I would say fairly but it seemd he never really did put in any effort to rectify those flaws. Thats just laziness. In terms of his performances and ability I dont think he has progressed that much at all over the course of his international career.

Uthappa has seriously underachieved. He would probably walk into Pak team easily.

India's batting reserves are ridiculously strong.
 
Can never escape the feeling that he is a bunny against the fast stuff.
BUT.....always comes good when the pressure is on: would chose him over miller, in an odi team.

Thats the thing about Raina.

Doesn't look solid but figures out a way to deliver when the team needs him.
 
Thats the thing about Raina.

Doesn't look solid but figures out a way to deliver when the team needs him.

I get the feeling that he is the kind of player who works well with a defined brief. More workman like rather than artist. Artists do well in tests, which often require patience, self-initiative.
While the short ball is an issue, I don't think that's the reason for his poor returns in tests. He doesn't have the mental stamina for tests, but has loads of it for the shorter formats
 
I get the feeling that he is the kind of player who works well with a defined brief. More workman like rather than artist. Artists do well in tests, which often require patience, self-initiative.
While the short ball is an issue, I don't think that's the reason for his poor returns in tests. He doesn't have the mental stamina for tests, but has loads of it for the shorter formats

Loved the artists in test analagy. It does define most players
 
I get the feeling that he is the kind of player who works well with a defined brief. More workman like rather than artist. Artists do well in tests, which often require patience, self-initiative.
While the short ball is an issue, I don't think that's the reason for his poor returns in tests. He doesn't have the mental stamina for tests, but has loads of it for the shorter formats

He doesn't have the skills to survive tough balls in test.

Simple exercise he can do:

Take a rank turner and ask him to survive just 20 balls against an offie like Ashwin.

No slogging allowed.

Either he will get out to the spin or get lbw to the arm ball.

He doesn't have the game to survive the tough spells (both swing or spin).

Repeat the same exercise with a good swing bowler on a swing track and the results would be similar.
 
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He doesn't have the skills to survive tough balls in test.

Simple exercise he can do:

Take a rank turner and ask him to survive just 20 balls against an offie like Ashwin.

No slogging allowed.

Either he will get out to the spin or get lbw to the arm ball.

He doesn't have the game to survive the tough spells (both swing or spin).

Repeat the same exercise with a good swing bowler on a swing track and the results would be similar.

Yeah, but he has played tough bowlers and tough pitches in odi's as well. I still think, that in tests, he doesnt know when to attack and when to defend and generally doesn't look settled. Hence my point on lack of mental fortitude in the longer format.
 
He doesn't have the skills to survive tough balls in test.

Simple exercise he can do:

Take a rank turner and ask him to survive just 20 balls against an offie like Ashwin.

No slogging allowed.

Either he will get out to the spin or get lbw to the arm ball.

He doesn't have the game to survive the tough spells (both swing or spin).

Repeat the same exercise with a good swing bowler on a swing track and the results would be similar.

Name me a leftie that would be able to survive against ashwin on a turner.

Heck, even sanga failed and he didnT even play on rank turners
 
Yeah, but he has played tough bowlers and tough pitches in odi's as well. I still think, that in tests, he doesnt know when to attack and when to defend and generally doesn't look settled. Hence my point on lack of mental fortitude in the longer format.

Not just mental fortitude bro.

Actual skills too.

In ODIs, you can get to the other end and escape.

In tests, you are more likely to get a boundary but be on strike. Plus bowlers go for extended spells and work out your weaknesses which in ODIs are hidden.

There is a reason why Dhoni is awesome even in the toughest of pitches in ODIs but can't bat properly in test pitches which are half as lethal (Raina is nowhere near him in playing tough ODI pitches but you get the point).
 
He can prove to be a quality Test batsman as well in Asia. Can play game-changing knocks.

India should persist with him if they fail to find a quality Test batsman in the mould of Kohli, Rahane and Pujara.

No even in Asia he will struggle in Tests. His batting flaws are more than just inability against the short ball. He just does not have the temperament for the longer format and shouldn't bother with it.
 
Name me a leftie that would be able to survive against ashwin on a turner.

Heck, even sanga failed and he didnT even play on rank turners

I just asked for a 20 ball test.

But fine...on a normal turner too he won't survive.

Or bring in Lyon and he would struggle with him on spin tracks.

The way he moves and plays quality swing/spin on bowling pitches (not even extreme turners or swing tracks) is dodgy.

He may strike an amazing 100 in an innings and sink without a trace in the next few innings.

Same issue Yuvi had but we kept ignoring it and paid the price. Wasted a lot of time with him in tests.

I don't see Raina surviving tough examinations though on easier tracks he would be BRUTALLLL.
 
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Name me a leftie that would be able to survive against ashwin on a turner.

Heck, even sanga failed and he didnT even play on rank turners

This was a Sanga who was clearly past it! He wouldve certainly played Ashwin much better if it was only a year ago. You have to remember that Sanga has never even been troubled by Ajmal.
 
This was a Sanga who was clearly past it! He wouldve certainly played Ashwin much better if it was only a year ago. You have to remember that Sanga has never even been troubled by Ajmal.

Ajmal was never in the same class as ashwin v2 as the latter has mastered classical offspin bowling.
The former relied on doosra/ off spin combo to outfox the batsman but didnt have flight, dip and drift in his repertoire. So with him it was only a question of picking the direction where the ball was spinning n sanga was one of the few who did.

However ashwin has these three skills against whom anybody would struggle just as anyone would struggle against a quality swing bowler like anderson in overcast conditions.

Sanga has struggled against swann who was the only other exponent of classical off spin so I see no reason why sanga would not hv struggled against ashwin a year or so ago
 
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Ajmal was never in the same class as ashwin v2 as the latter has mastered classical offspin bowling.
The former relied on doosra/ off spin combo to outfox the batsman but didnt have flight, dip and drift in his repertoire. So with him it was only a question of picking the direction where the ball was spinning n sanga was one of the few who did.

However ashwin has these three skills against whom anybody would struggle just as anyone would struggle against a quality swing bowler like anderson in overcast conditions.

Sanga has struggled against swann who was the only other exponent of classical off spin so I see no reason why sanga would not hv struggled against ashwin a year or so ago

It's not easy for left hand batsmen to play a good classical off spin. Ball is going away from you. Sanga is anyway not a great on big turners. I won't really use Sanga as example but I have seen very few left hand batsmen dominating classical off spinners on turning wicket.

Point about Sanga being past is not true. He was scoring truckload of runs in WC only few months back. He simply lost focus or couldn't play Yasir/Ashwin well. I will actually bank on classical off spinner getting Sanga out cheaply most of the times on turning tracks. I am with you on this. For the same reason, most batsmen find it hard to play a good leggie on turning tracks.
 
Ajmal was never in the same class as ashwin v2 as the latter has mastered classical offspin bowling.
The former relied on doosra/ off spin combo to outfox the batsman but didnt have flight, dip and drift in his repertoire. So with him it was only a question of picking the direction where the ball was spinning n sanga was one of the few who did.

However ashwin has these three skills against whom anybody would struggle just as anyone would struggle against a quality swing bowler like anderson in overcast conditions.

Sanga has struggled against swann who was the only other exponent of classical off spin so I see no reason why sanga would not hv struggled against ashwin a year or so ago

Would have love to see Ganguly and Gambhir at their peak vs the current ashwin.
Would be fascinating!
 
Indian fans in particular what do you think of him.

Do you think he has fulfilled his potential? How much potential did he really have? I remember him making his debut in 2005 and was among the new breed of Indian cricketers who played fearless attacking cricket. Many tipped him to become a very accomplished player. He was brought in by Chappell as India's future iirc and was among the exciting batsmen along with Venugopoal Rao and Uthappa too i think.

Atleast in tests he has been a let down despite a good start. Average of 26 is poor.

But in ODIs he averages 36 at 94 SR so definitely has his worth and was great in the 2011 WC. As a comparison the much maligned Umar Akmal average 34 at 86 from the same/similar position

This is secrelty an Umer Akmal thread right? :))):))):)))
 
Raina punches above his weight class, has the clutch gene, and is a wonderful pinch hitter in ODIs n T20s
 
Underrated LOI player. I would have a player like him in my ODI and T20 teams easily. Umar Akmal was on track to become our own Raina but he has gotten himself into a slump, unfortunately.

Raina and Yuvraj were two players that I was always wary of, whenever Indo-Pak matches took place. They could be absolutely devastating on their day and had the consistency to make those days happen often.
 
Wasn't Umar Akmal compared with Kohli and even Sachin Tendulkar a few years ago ? Now he pales in comparison to Raina .. lol.
 
Umar's comparisons indeed reflect his demise. From next Tendulkar to next Kohli and now poor man's Raina.
 
Massively underrated LOI player . Very few people can start scoring at a rate from the first ball , may be AB .

The Media to an extent & fans killed his test career , put so much pressure on him about his short ball game that every time he went out to bat he had to prove a point . There are much worse players of short ball who have had a sucessful Test career , Ganguly for eg ..Dhawan opens for us ? He would not have been a 50avg player , but 40-45 he potentially was .
 
Umar was compared to Kohli when he was batting in the top four or five. After he was shunted down the order and the management was doing all it could to turn him into a finisher at best and slogger at worst, the Raina comparisons were more apt.
 
No talented player in Pakistan ever failed because he didn't have it in him.. it was always the management who didn't manage his enormous potential.
 
Umar's comparisons indeed reflect his demise. From next Tendulkar to next Kohli and now poor man's Raina.

Umar and Raina play at same position. A comparison is only natural.. Raina is not an ATG that Umar can't be compared to him.


Take off your Indian bias glasses..
 
Umar and Raina play at same position. A comparison is only natural.. Raina is not an ATG that Umar can't be compared to him.


Take off your Indian bias glasses..

He didn't say Raina cannot be compared to Umar.

He said the standard of batsmen whom Umar gets compared with keeps dropping.
 
No talented player in Pakistan ever failed because he didn't have it in him.. it was always the management who didn't manage his enormous potential.

Haha have made this point dozens of time but very few acknowledge it. Though I would add many fans do say that it is the players fault but still you are right in the sense that they do not accept that the player was not good to begin with

Though in Umars case imo he genuinely was very talented and could have been a great if he had applied himself correctly and used his brain. Shehzad on the other hand is a pretender who never had the necessary skill set or talent to be a great but Pak fans act as if he too was unlucky.
 
Umar and Raina play at same position. A comparison is only natural.. Raina is not an ATG that Umar can't be compared to him.


Take off your Indian bias glasses..

Aqal bari ya bhains? :inti

Before ranting, learn to read and comprehend. My point was that you can judge by Umar's comparisons how much he has fallen.

He started as a future Tendulkar and then was compared to Kohli later on. Now the comparisons are with Raina.

I never said that Raina is so better than Umar that they cannot be compared.
 
Brilliant LOI player. Don't have a future in test cricket.

He is one of those players I would love to have him in a Pakistani side, he could have won us a lot of matches, more than he has won for India.

He do have his technical deficiencies, both against quality fast and spin bowling, but he has done well to overcome (or rather hide) them in LOIs. I usually don't expect someone with prominently visible technical flaws :hafeez2 to be a clutch player, because such players never able to develop enough self-confidence to deliver at critical situations of the match. Raina is an exception, he has got amazing sense of occasion and game awareness and possess nerve to perform in touch and go situations :shehzad
 
He is the anti-Hashim Amla when it comes to performing under pressure.
 
Brilliant LOI player. Doesn't have a future in test cricket.


He does have his technical deficiencies, usually don't expect someone with prominently visible technical flaws :hafeez2 to be a clutch player, because such players are never able to develop enough self-confidence to deliver at critical situations of the match. and possesses nerve to perform in touch and go situations :shehzad

A few corrections attempted from my side.. not sure if they all are correct.
 
Raina is an absolute beat in ODIs. A player like Raina is an asset for a team; bats well under pressure and saves 20 runs in the field. What else can you ask for.

He is better than every current and former Pakistani ODI player in the last decade or so.A top-class player!
My favorite player after Sehwag.
 
I do feel, at times, that Indians tend to underrate him. He is not appreciated as much as he should be.
 
He's definitely taken a turn for the worst this series

Hopefully it's just a bad patch
 
I rate him very highly in ODI's. So highly that yesterday I was very confident that India will loose the ODI if Dhoni and Kohli stayed in longer as Raina was the only capable player of hitting big shots.

But still I find that some comments in here are way over the top. He is an excellent asset to have for any team but he is no Symonds, Hussey or Yuvi.
 
Does Raina have the technique to bat up the order?

I dont think so. He is very embarrassing against the bouncer directed towards his body.

He should be coming in at no 6. He plays the finisher role well.
 
Yes he is a good no 6, not suited for no 4. We might see Manish Pandey bat AF no 4 in both Odis and T20s from next series.
 
I think Raina's done. This is probably the last we will see of this batting line up. If Dhawan, Raina don't perform in the next 2 games, they will be out for a while
 
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