New Delhi: Still recovering from a bout of viral fever, Suresh Raina was back in the nets Tuesday but the middle-order batsman will miss India’s second ODI against New Zealand after the team management decided to give him more time to regain his fitness.
Raina, who had opted out of the opening ODI at Dharamsala due to fever, batted for about 45 minutes at the nets but the support staff informed that he is still not 100 per cent fit.
“The BCCI medical team has confirmed that Suresh Raina, who is recovering from a bout of viral fever and had missed the Dharamsala ODI, is ruled out of the second ODI against New Zealand,” BCCI said in a release. “The team management has allowed Suresh Raina more time to recover. There will be no replacement in the team,” it added.
Raina, who didn’t bat in Uttar Pradesh’s Ranji opener against Madhya Pradesh as he was running temperature, looked comfortable while batting in the nets. But then the fact may be that he is still not fit enough to take the strain of a 100-over game.
Had Raina been fit, it would have been a selection conundrum betwen him and Keder Jadhav. The latter had picked up two wickets with his handy part-time off breaks in the first ODI. At the nets, Jadhav was seen bowling off breaks to both Raina and MS Dhoni for an extended period of time alongside other off-spinner Jayant Yadav.
It was an optional session at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground. The others present were Axar Patel, Mandeep Singh, Kedar, Kulkarni and Jayant. The likes of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Umesh Yadav decided to rest.
Meanwhile talking to reporters here India’s fielding coach R Sridhar said that pacer Umesh Yadav has become the fielding benchmark for fast bowlers. Umesh, incidentally took a fantastic catch to send back Corey Anderson in the last game.
“It’s good to have fast bowlers in the side who are good athletes. Umesh has a very good arm and similarly (Mohammed) Shami is also a good athlete. In the past we had Mohit (Sharma) who was a very good fielder. Umesh is an exception not only because of yards he put in the field but also because of his catching,” said Sridhar.
When asked about who has the most powerful arm from the deep in this current set-up, Sridhar named Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. “They are the two names that come to mind. They have powerful rocket arms and can throw from anywhere with accuracy,” informed Sridhar.
Press Trust of India
