Team director Ravi Shastri wants Suresh Raina back in Indian Test set-up

Suresh Raina

Indian cricket team director Ravi Shastri has said that he is willing to take steps to ensure limited overs specialist Suresh Raina gets back in the Test set-up.

Raina, who was dropped from the Test team after the 2nd of the 2-match Test series against New Zealand in 2012, has been in stellar form of late; the 27-year-old ended as India’s second-leading run-scorer in the One Day International (ODI) series against England before scoring a 109* off 62 deliveries to help his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) win the 2014 edition of the Champions League T20 (CLT20).

Shastri, when asked about Raina’s impact, 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 is going he is a treat to watch."

He added: "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."

The left-hander has so far played 17 Test matches after making his debut in 2010, against Sri Lanka, scoring 768 runs at an average of 28.44. He has previously been found wanting in the longer format of the game, both against quality pace and spin, as a result of a suspect technique. It remains to be seen if he has overcome those issues.

Kuldeep Yadav – The X-factor

When asked about the national selectors’ decision to pick Kuldeep Yadav, a 19-year-old chinaman bowler who hasn’t yet played a single List A or First-Class match, he said: "When there is talent, when you have something different like with Kuldeep, something special and if the selectors believe that yes, this could be the guy, if nurtured properly, given the right guidance one year or two years down the line will be a match winner for me not just in India but in overseas conditions as well. I am prepared to take that gamble."

Kuldeep grabbed a lot of eyeballs when he ended as the second highest wicket-taker in the Under-19 World Cup held earlier this year in the United Arab Emirates. He, then, got picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2014 IPL Auctions; while he didn’t play a single match for them in the IPL, he was handed a debut in the CLT20 and went on to pick up 6 wickets in 5 matches, including a Man-of-the-Match performance against Perth Scorchers in the league stages.