Indian Test squad was picked on Monday for the upcoming Down Under tour where Dhoni’s men will play 4 Tests against the mighty Australians.
Indian Test squad was picked on Monday for the upcoming Down Under tour where Dhoni’s men will play 4 Tests against the mighty Australians.
The BCCI selectors have selected a 19-member squad mostly of young names with the likes of KL Rahul, Naman Ojha and spinner Karn Sharma making the cut. But one such name that sparked a revival was ODI regular, Suresh Raina.
The southpaw is making the Test team after a hiatus of two years, playing his last Test against the Kiwis in 2012. Overall, Raina has played 17 matches and amassed 762 runs at an average of 28.44 so far. But a difficult tour of England in 2011 demoted the 27-year old and was only found a regular cap in the 50-over format.
But his recent form with the bat in the ODIs could have propelled the skipper and the selectors to give Raina a chance in the Tests against Australia.
Adding more gloss to his Test selection was current Indian team director, Ravi Shastri. The former India skipper talked up Suresh Raina’s Test prospects after a brilliant run in the ODI format and felt that the southpaw should get a chance in the Test whites. Notably, Raina hasn’t played a Test match in more than two years nor a first-class game in 2014.
But Shastri seemed attached to the plan of including Raina to the Test plans. Speaking during the English tour he said, “The more I see him play, he is brilliant to watch. It will be my endeavour really to do something that will get him back into the Indian Test match team. He is a class act. When he is going he is a treat to watch. Even at times when I see him bat at the nets, when the ball hits the bat, just that sound or sense of timing you know it is something different. Let’s hope, fingers crossed.”
Australia will be looking to put their Pakistan debacle behind them as they will unleash the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle on the young Indian turks. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have not had the best of tours to England but a senior pro like Suresh Raina in the team could boost their morale and confidence in the squad.
