Raina......The Man Of The Future For India
It wasn't the first time that this man Suresh Raina, though a young man aged 23, has shown that he is going to be one of the brightest stars of Indian cricketing future. But this time it was even better a proof with this young lad showing his class against one of the best sides in the contemporary T20 sides, South Africa, in the 5th match of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
The Masterful Innings
India were at a pressure situation when this man entered, having lost the toss and put to bat by the South Africans followed by the loss of Murali Vijay in the first over in a slow track against a formidable bowling attack. Just as things were appearing to be settled for India, Dinesh Karthik got himself out with a loose shot. Then started the partnership along with Yuvraj Singh, who wasn't at his best. He started to score at a good rate not letting the Protean bowlers to take on the Indians.
It was in the 8th over that Raina started to pace up his innings with a graceful inside out stroke off Van der Merwe. From then on there din't seem to be anything or any bowler that could stop him from getting his runs when and where he wanted.
After a few blistering strokes Yuvraj Singh got himself out with a mistimed pull shot. Everyone thought it would be a break to the onslaught. But it was not to be. He just played his innings irrespective of who his partner was and who the bowler was.
The 25-run over
In the 18th over off Kleinveldt, the first ball was launched out of the park through the mid wicket region by a fierce Yusuf Pathan. One might have thought Yusuf would dominate the remainder of the overs by his blistering shots over mid wicket and long on........ But..... The next ball was a single and Raina was on strike.......... He started off killing the ball with a beautiful and at the same time, very strong looking on drive....... Then came shot on the other side of the ground.... A flamboyant extra-cover drive..... The third one was better a feast to the fans........ A lofted straight drive which went between long-on and long-off........ "There cant be a fielder there!" shouted the Commentator.........
The next was less powerful than all the previous shots but produced a SIX....... Just a delicate touch over the long off...... This brought his score to 93........
Moment of the Day:
He couldn't get much of a strike in the 19th over scoring just 2 runs of it. Its the final over and Dhoni was on strike. Raina got the strike in the 3rd ball which he murdered over mid wicket with a fierce thump. He knew it was six as soon as he hit it and started the celebration by punching the air followed by a typical Indian sign towards the Indian dressing room.
That concluded the "devilishly entertaining knock" as described in cricinfo becoming only the third player to score a century in T20 internationals and the youngest to do the same.
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.