Suresh Raina unhappy with Piyush Chawla's Ranji Trophy performance

It has been almost three years now since Piyush Chawla played his last Test for India

Suresh Raina, captain of Uttar Pradesh’s Ranji team, thinks teammate Piyush Chawla needs to work harder to regain a spot in the Indian team. The 26-year-old allrounder’s performances in the ongoing Ranji Trophy have been unimpressive so far, with only six wickets from as many matches.

Before UP’s match against Punjab, their skipper said, “Definitely he has to raise his bar, he has to work hard. He is bowling well, but since he's not getting wickets it seems like he's not bowling well. Once you play for India and then for domestic, you have to work hard and your thinking is very important - how you respect the game, how disciplined you are in those things. He has worked really hard in the last two games that I have seen against Mumbai and Tamil Nadu.”

Raina also believes that Chawla needs to improve his game as young players are performing well and there is a pressure situation in the dressing room. He added, “If Piyush doesn't do well in two matches, definitely the selectors have to think what to do. Youngsters are doing very well for UP, so seniors have to step up their game and there's pressure in the dressing room.”

In six of the ten innings that Chawla has played in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, he could not bag a wicket. His performance in the Twenty-20 format has been better. In the last two seasons of Indian Premiere League, he was the second-highest wicket-taker for Kolkata Knight Riders. Raina feels the 26-year-old needs to maintain this form while playing for UP as well.

The UP skipper said, “He will have to step up. As a professional, when you do well in the IPL, you have to do it for UP - whether as a player of CSK, or of Air India team, or Indian team. I've learnt from my seniors that you have to give whatever you have. Cricket is one game in which you have to be disciplined, very committed and Piyush has that. He has the discipline and he concentrates a lot but he has to work hard on his bowling.”

However, Raina still has faith in Chawla and believes his teammate will soon be back in form. Raina said, “He has been a match-winning player for us. For so many years he has done really well for UP. As a captain, as I've seen him play from Under-16s and Under-19s. I think it's a matter of one or two wickets, he's a momentum player. He has always done well for UP or in the Challenger Trophy, or for India - like in the World Cup. Once he does well in one match, he will be on track.”

It has been almost three years since Chawla played his last Test for the national side and soon it will be five years since his last One Day International.