Suresh Raina’s promotion was to boost his confidence, believes Sunil Gavaskar
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After Suresh Raina's promotion ahead of Virat Kohli in the batting line-up raised eyebrows, Sunil Gavaskar has opined that the decision was taken to get more overs under Raina’s belt. Gavaskar also shed light on Unadkat’s importance in balancing the left-right combination in the pace department.
After Rohit Sharma left the field on Sunday following a blistering knock of 21 runs in 9 balls that saw two boundaries and two sixes, the crowd was waiting for Kohli to walk in, just as he had done during the ODI series. But, India’s dressing room decided to go with Raina instead, who was making a comeback in international cricket after a year -a decision that left many surprised.
Though the southpaw didn’t capitalize on the opportunity, he made sure to leave a mark with two boundaries and a mammoth six that helped India register their highest ever score of 78 in a T20I power play. After the game, Gavaskar stated that he saw it as India’s way of boosting Raina’s confidence by giving him more overs to play.
“Virat Kohli, I think, was just trying to give Suresh Raina an opportunity batting at No. 3 so that he got a lot of overs. And again when you have the field restrictions in the first three overs, you try to take advantage of the same. That’s what he wanted to help Raina with to get him back into the groove since Raina has been out of the Indian team for a while. So maybe that is why he was promoted to No. 3,” said Gavaskar in Sony's post-match analysis.
Another decision that surprised many was the inclusion of Jaydev Unadkat in place of Kuldeep Yadav. While the youngster has been an integral of India’s T20I squads on the home turf last year, his selection wasn’t predicted by many. However, Gavaskar has stated that the left-hand pacer brings a good combination to India’s pace battery that
“They have got three new ball bowlers, including Pandya. Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar, as right-handers and to have left-hander at the top to move the ball around a bit. He has got a good yorker. He bowls at a good pace – 140kmph. And the slower delivery that he has developed is also pretty deceptive. So I think the changes were very very good changes. It makes the side look a little more complete. It looks like a very formidable team,” added Gavaskar.
However, as has often been the case with the original Little Master, he couldn’t help but take a dig at Unadkat’s IPL price tag, who was sold for a whopping 11.5 crores at the mega-auction last month becoming the highest paid Indian player at the auction.
“As far as Jaydev Unadkat is concerned, I think he was just bought for so much money. Maybe he might have splashed that money to make sure that he played in the final XI. I am joking of course. He has such a good record in the IPL last year. He bowled exceptionally well when he was playing for the Pune team and clearly, they wanted a left-hander in their ranks as well,” quipped Gavaskar.
