Playing It Unplugged: Suresh Raina

Taking a break before the start of another rigorous cricket season between making TV appearances and crooning for films. Suresh Raina opens his new house for SI INDIA to talk about his first love, cricket

- Shalabh Manocha

He bats left-handed and can turn on the fire-power at will, especially when the pressure of the scoreboard mounts in a chase and the big shots are needed. He bowls intelligent, more than useful part-time spin, and is especially handy when a partnership is building and the main bowlers are flagging. He’s electric on the field, a safe pair of hands backed up by athleticism and a rocket throw that often finds the stumps direct. He bosses the limited-overs formats, but has never quite been completely at home in Test cricket, with chances coming only occasionally, and even on those occasions, he has struggled to make them count.

We could be talking about Yuvraj Singh, but that would be looking backward instead of into the future. The man we set out to meet and get to know better on Sept. 3—the significance of that number will reveal itself repeatedly—should have been the one slipping seamlessly into Yuvraj’s shoes. Suresh Raina has spent the best part of a 10-year international career in the shadow of others, and when the selectors decided it was time to move on from Yuvraj, the logical transition would have been to build the limited-overs team around Raina. For a variety of reasons—most notably the rapid rise of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma—this has not quite happened. But, Raina is neither deflated nor disappointed.

Three eager staffers from Sports Illustrated India, along with Raina’s managers, wait outside the cricketer’s newest home, in Vasant Vihar’s A Block. House number? Coincidentally or intentionally: 3. It’s only been a few days since Raina moved in, shifting from Ghaziabad to be more centrally located, especially considering access to the airport, given how much Raina travels. As his parents, and wife, Priyanka, make their exit, comes the cry, “Aa jao (come in)” from a cheery Raina, and we’re ushered in.