In May 2007, when Suresh Raina was still wondering how to make a comeback into the Indian team, Wisden threw a surprise. They included Raina’s name in the list of 10 young cricketers who would go on to define the game’s next decade. Raina’s name was in the same bracket as that of Australia’s Michael Clarke, England’s Kevin Pietersen, Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, among others. It was reason enough for Raina to celebrate, knowing that he belonged to a group of gifted cricketers. But 2007 had posed enough trouble already, ouster from the Indian team to be precise, and Raina was simply focused on the Ranji season ahead to try and make a comeback. It has taken exactly a year since he was dropped and seven months since that Wisden article for Raina to return to the Indian team. Finally, 206 runs in the Challenger series and 6800 runs in Ranji Trophy have helped him do that. The inclusion comes as a relief for Raina in the new year, an excitement of sorts that he’ll be soon joining the young brigade of which most players tasted the Twenty20 success. “It will be exciting to be a part of this new-look team. The guys are in the same age group and watching them in South Africa was enjoyable,” he told The Indian Express, elated after the selectors finalised the team this morning. Raina last played a one-dayer in January 2007 when West Indies came visiting. Since then, it has been a week less to a year that he toiled recovering from injury and playing domestic cricket. “The selection news is a relief.” The Indian team now has a young captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh as his deputy in smashing form, both of whom Raina says are his good friends. “I have been a part of a winning team along with Dhoni and Yuvi and it is very exciting to play with them. We know each other well and I also know that Dhoni thinks a lot about the game. There are seniors too and all that is a great advantage,” he says. Raina’s batting in the middle-order will be surrounded by the likes of Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Dhoni and Yuvraj, and he knows that there’ll be competition too. The southpaw, however, is ready for it. Raina’s 85 against Delhi in the Ranji finals cleared the last bit of doubt, if at all, the selectors must have had. The Ghaziabad cricketer played fluently before an edge to the wicket-keeper deprived him of a century. “I will use the Ranji form to my betterment. I will try to make this comeback a special one,” he said. Raina has travelled to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar scholarship and the experience, he says, will benefit him. “I have a good idea of the wickets there and, believe me, it’s a delight for any batsman. The only thing that matters there is what kind of frame of mind you are in,” he says.
