“Rahul, not Sachin?” - How Yuvraj Singh pulled newcomer Suresh Raina’s leg 

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina has narrated a hilarious incident from his maiden international tour in Sri Lanka when Yuvraj Singh pulled Raina’s leg about his favorite cricketer.

Raina, who announced his retirement from international cricket on the same day as MS Dhoni last year, made his international debut in an ODI in Dambulla in July of 2005. On the 22 Yarns podcast with Gaurav Kapur, Raina revealed how the mischievous Yuvraj Singh put him in a spot by asking him about his favorite cricketer. He said:

“Yuvi paa (Yuvraj Singh) had asked who is your favorite cricketer - Rahul (Dravid) or Sachin (Tendulkar)? I said Rahul.”

To this, Yuvraj was quick to probe in a naughty manner - “Oh, not Sachin?”

Asked how Tendulkar reacted to Raina picking Rahul over him as his favorite player, the former India batter replied that the Master Blaster was pretty chilled out. Raina recalled:

“Sachin just smiled. I remember (MS) Dhoni bhai was there, Irfan was also there. They were all laughing. So I felt like this is my home for the next couple of months or series. It was an honor for me to represent the country with some legends on the game.”

Narrating how he was extremely nervous being in the midst of some great names, Raina added:

“During my first tour, paaji (Sachin) was sitting on my left, Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag) was on my right and Yuvi paa, Anil bhai (Kumble), Dada (Sourav Ganguly) were all in front of me. I was really scared thinking what they would ask me. I didn’t even know English properly in those days.”

Feeling as cool as my Iced Coffee 💯 #ThursdayVibes #Chilling pic.twitter.com/CtQTl2cSlv

— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) July 15, 2021

“You should be ready” - How Yuvraj Singh prepared Suresh Raina for his Test debut

While Raina made his ODI debut in 2005, he had to wait for another five years before he made his Test debut. Yuvraj Singh had a significant role to play in Raina’s debut in the longer format of the game. Calling Yuvraj Singh a gem of a person, the left-hander revealed:

“I scored a hundred on my Test debut. He (Yuvraj) called me in the night before the match - 12:30 or 1 o’clock - saying, 'Suresh, I am not able to sleep, I have a stomach bug or something, you should be ready.' Generally, players don’t say such things. He was so generous and kind to me when he said that I should be ready. I was not prepared as I wasn’t sure whether or not I would be selected."

“After I made my hundred, Yuvi paa came up to be, hugged me and said, ‘This is you, I am so happy for you and well done.' I was treated like a young brother. It was like a family and youngsters were well looked after. If there was a controversy, the seniors protected you from the media,” added Raina.

My book ‘Believe’ is about believing in yourself. I have shared insights about the game & my life. I thank @laqshyamedia @alokjalan for being supportive enough & sharing my story with the youth of today.#LaqshyaMediaGroup #believe pic.twitter.com/Sb4LTnvaZ5

— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) July 13, 2021

The UP cricketer ended his international career after playing 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is, scoring close to 8,000 international runs. His memoir 'Believe' was released recently.