ICC World T20 - Ruffling Raina with short deliveries in the tournament ( Part 1) - Opinion
The pitches for this year’s ICC World T20 in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 have certainly changed as there is significant amount of movement for the seam bowlers as well as reasonable bounce on offer when the cherry is hard and new. The three games that have been played so
far which have witnessed the minnows taking on the veterans, have given indications of lateral movement off the decks in Hambantota and the Premadasa stadium in Colombo. It is thus, fair to say that the seamers in various oppositions in this tournament, could
play a crucial role in determining the outcomes of various games.
The bounce on the wicket at the Premadasa on Wednesday night during the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745 versus India game for example, was alarming for many of the batsmen from either side. It was a pity that both bowling outfits had not used the short ball with good effect
or as much as they would have liked. The possibilities of eliciting top edges did loom high in that keenly contested encounter. On the other hand, other teams such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, boast an array of fiery fast bowlers, of whom
many could wreak havoc on batting line-ups which are fallible against the short ball on Sri Lankan wickets. For those teams which have to face off against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in the near future, and are wary over bearing the brunt of Suresh Raina’s flamboyance could toy
with the idea of deploying thunderbolts aimed at the left hander’s rib cage, which has historically led to his demise on more occasions than not.
Raina as a batsman, is one of the most dynamic Indian players in a lineup, which is littered with flamboyant stroke makers. His record in T20 cricket for India is phenomenal to say the least, where he has managed to construct an extraordinary career with
a penchant for boundary hitting and depositing sixes out of the ground. In light of this, pitching the ball full, on the pads or outside the off stump to Raina is considered as a cardinal sin as the ball is almost always witnessed, whistling to the boundary
at a rate of knots. His century against South Africa in the previous edition of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 in the Caribbean for example, was a product of depositing length balls and half vollies for towering sixes, which left the bowling side dazed and helpless over
a blitzkrieg that managed to hit them. Similarly, his IPL stint with the Chennai Super Kings franchise has also yielded significant dividends for this talented left hander as he has continued to dish it out for the men in yellow, in the pocket sized format
of the game.
Raina’ s stroke play might be extravagant by those who have witnessed him bat, yet unlike most of his contemporaries, he loathes the short ball. He is probably the only Indian batsman who simply cannot respond to a delivery which targets his rib cage and
is bowled in excess of 140 Km/ http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hugh-Morris-c63550. His susceptibility to the bouncer is reflected in an overreliance on his bottom handed technique, which has historically given him the ability to smoke boundaries at will if the ball is full or bowled on length. This technique,
however, does not give Raina room to tackle the ball if it is pitched shorter as numerous occasions have seen the ball hurry onto him before he could react or play a stroke.
To be continued....
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