Suresh Raina, who was drafted in the ODI squad after a one-year hiatus, has been ruled out of the second ODI against New Zealand, as he is still recovering from viral fever. The left-hander was forced to sit out of the first ODI at Dharamsala as well due to the illness. No replacement has been named for him. The match, deferred by one day from its original date, is scheduled to be held on the 20th of October at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi.
Raina had missed Uttar Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh for the same reason. Although he had been named as captain, he couldn’t participate due to the illness as his team lost by 64 runs.
The middle order batsman made his comeback to the ODI squad after a gap of one year having last played an ODI against South Africa at Mumbai in October 2015. The visitors won the match by 227 runs, with Raina being able to manage only 12 runs. He was subsequently left out of the tours to Australia and Zimbabwe, although he did take part in the Asia Cup and the World T20.
The 29-year-old managed just 39 runs in three innings in the Asia Cup, and followed it with another disappointing run in the World T20s, garnering only 41 runs in four innings. Before being sidelined from the team, Raina could manage only one century in 26 ODI innings.
India won the first ODI against New Zealand in comprehensive fashion on the back of a clinical bowling performance, dismissing the tourists for a sub-par score of 190. Virat Kohli then steered the side to victory with an unbeaten 85, helping the team usurp the target in just 33 overs.
Having made his international debut under Greg Chappell’s regime in 2005, Raina established himself as one of the mainstays of the middle-order over the next decade with his ability to change gears at will and run hard between the wickets. He is also hailed as being one of the best fielders to have emerged in the Indian team since Mohammad Kaif. Raina has also added off-spin to his set of skills over the years.
In 223 ODIs, he has scored 5568 runs at an average of 35.46, with five centuries to his credit. He has also featured in 62 T20Is for the national side, scoring 1203 runs at strike-rate of 132.92. Raina has the distinction of being the first Indian to score a century in all three formats, having scored a Test century on debut against Sri Lanka in 2010, his only ton in the format.
Also read: Revealed: How Virat Kohli got his nickname 'Chiku'
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