Ravi Shastri had recently said that he would like to see Raina back in the Test side
Left-hander Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma will be battling for the Test spot during the upcoming Test series against West Indies. Photo: AFP/PTI/DC/File
Mumbai: In a recent interaction in Mumbai, director of cricket, Ravi Shastri had said it would be his endeavour to see Suresh Raina back in the Test side in the next six months.
The limited over specialist on Tuesday was thrown a lifeline to revive his Test career after being named the captain of Board President’s XI that will play a three-day game against the West Indies in Kanpur from Oct 25. The lone game ahead of the Test series starting October 30 is now expected to be virtual shootout for a Test berth between Raina and Rohit Sharma.
The Mumbai batsman sustained a finger injury during the tour of England and will make a return with the three-day day game. Rohit had a flying start to his career but failed to cement his place in the Test side. The 27-year-old cracked two centuries against West Indies last year and was also named Man of the Series, but managed just 114 runs in his next five innings.
Like Rohit, Raina too started his career with a bang scoring a century on Test debut in Sri Lanka before hitting two more half-centuries in his next two games. A lean period was followed by a productive tour of West Indies where he aggregated 232 runs in three games. He suffered a dip in form soon after with a string of single digit scores and never played a Test again since 2012.
Former India Test captain Sunil Gavaskar expressed his opinion on the issue on a news channel saying Rohit will need to prove himself all over again by scoring big in the domestic circuit. With Rohit not playing the Duleep Trophy starting from Wednesday, he will have his task cut out as the Ranji Trophy has been pushed back this domestic season. The other contenders include India ‘A’ captain Manoj Tiwary and wicket-keeper Naman Ojha.
Squad: Suresh Raina (C), Jiwanjot Singh, KL Rahul, Naman Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Karun Nair, Parvez Rasool, Pankaj Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Jasprit Bumrah, Karn Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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