Suresh Raina has been going through a rough patch for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in recent times and nothing changed in the IPL 2021 against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Dubai on Sunday. Former South Africa pace, Dale Steyn was unimpressed with the way Raina was carrying himself and spoke very openly while criticizing him.
While Raina scored 4 runs off 6 balls was disappointing, what was more hurtful for CSK was the way he played those six balls. Former RCB pacer Daley Steyn said Raina looked like a ‘school boy cricketer’ at one point.
During a chat on ESPNCricinfo, Dale Steyn said, “That ball, especially to Raina. He (Trent Boult) ran in and set that aggressive leg-side field. He (Suresh Raina) didn’t want anything of it. He looked like a school boy cricketer at a point. I couldn’t believe this was an international player doing what he was doing, almost embarrassing that he broke his bat and got out. Had that gone for six, maybe I won’t have said that but it is what we saw.”
ALSO READ: BCCI Decides To Increase The Match Fees For Domestic Players
Suresh Raina walked out to bat in the third over when Ambati Rayudu was retired hurt. Facing an on-song Trent Boult, he tucked away the first ball off his hips on the leg side. The second ball was a short ball and Raina decided to duck under the ball. It was the third delivery that showed how uncomfortable Raina was. Boult got one to nip away sharply from the fourth stump line and Raina, without any feet movement, tried to nervously poke at it.
With pressure mounting, Suresh Raina tried to slog the fourth ball to leg side but the ball flew off the edge and ran down to the third-man boundary. The veteran southpaw finally got off the mark in the most unconvincing fashion possible. He tucked the fifth ball to short fine leg before holing out to Rahul Chahar at point. Just like the fourth ball, he charged down the wicket, and tried to go bang-bang on the leg side but ended up edging the ball.
ALSO READ: AB de Villiers Excited For The 200th IPL Game Of Virat Kohli
Despite CSK’s horrible start, CSK managed to register a 20-run win over MI. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad played a match-winning knock of 88 not out which helped CSK to reach a respectable total of 156/6. That was followed by a disciplined bowling performance by Dhoni and Co, as they restricted MI to 136/8 in their 20 overs.
