Suresh Raina hungry for IPL success, claims Mohammad Kaif
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Gujarat Lions' assistant coach Mohammad Kaif believes Suresh Raina is hungry to taste some success in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Kaif also singled out Ravindra Jadeja as the player who would have to play a major role if Gujarat wants to make it into the playoffs semifinals.
Suresh Raina's numbers speak volumes of his contribution to the IPL and the Indian National team. He has scored an incredible 4098 runs in the nine years of the IPL at an average of 33.59. After the Chennai Super Kings were suspended last year, Raina was handed the captaincy of the newly formed Gujarat Lions. The 30-year-old helped Gujarat finish at the top of the table in their debut campaign leading from the front with 399 runs.
"Suresh is a big match player and has the guts to steer his team to winning the game. It will be important for him to perform and score runs. Not for others but for his own satisfaction. And whatever interaction we have had so far, I have seen that he has that hunger to perform," Kaif told Indian Express.
"Also, as a captain, he has to set a benchmark for his teammates. A captain who is performing and leading from the front always helps in boosting team morale. Playing a tournament like the IPL always brings pressure on you. But he is a senior player, who has represented India for over a decade now, and won’t play under any pressure in an any given situation."
But it isn't just Raina who Kaif has pinned the team's hopes on. The former Indian star reserved special praise for all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has managed to displace Ashwin as the best Test bowler in the world. The 28-year-old was instrumental in India's win over Australia in the recently concluded Test series.
"What a terrific season he has had," said Kaif. "We played together for Rajasthan Royal in 2008 and in these 10 years, he had ups and downs, but now has evolved as a key player in India. With the current form, he is in, he will play a major role for the Lions this season.
"His contribution across all formats has been tremendous. During this season we can see him lead our bowling lineup. His batting potential can also not be overlooked. In order to maintain a left-right batting combination, he is very likely to be promoted up the batting order."
Gujarat is one team who are not suffering from any injuries so far with their entire team ready to start their second season in the league. Even though they managed to score pretty heavily on regular occasions, their bowling let them down on multiple occasions last year. But this time around Kaif believes that they have a good squad to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself.
"We have a mix of young and experience in our squad this season. And the kind of batting power we had last season, we needed to strengthen our bowling. The reason to have more of the Indian bowlers, as it can well be attributed to the fact that we can only have 4 foreign players in the playing XI, which gives less option to try new combinations," Kaif explained.
"And having players like Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner, Dwayne Bravo, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith and Jason Roy, you really don’t get
