A “change in priorities” was cited as the reason for senior India batsman Suresh Raina’s steep fall from the pecking order by an unnamed former Uttar Pradesh coach, reported Mid-Day on Thursday.
“His priorities have changed after he became a family man. I have noticed that he has not been concentrating on his game,”he said. “He has become a reluctant cricketer. He just played three Ranji matches for UP this season and didn’t turn out for the Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare tournaments.”
The 30-year-old Raina, who played a crucial role in India’s World Cup win in 2011 on home soil, failed to make it to the 32-man list of players who were awarded central contracts by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Raina was not even considered worthy of a Grade C contract.
The explosive left-hander, though, featured in the three-match Twenty20 International series against England earlier in the year. However, he has not played a single One-Day International for India since October 2015.
The ex-coach viewed the Indian Premier League, a tournament where Raina has been one of the standout players since its inception, as a means for making his way back to the side, “With so many youngsters on the horizon, his chances of a comeback into Indian Test or ODI teams are bleak. He can still eye the T20Is, but it will depend a lot on his IPL form where he will lead Gujarat Lions again,” the coach said.
Contracted players:
Grade A (Rs 2 cr): Virat Kohli (c), MS Dhoni, Murali Vijay, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja
Grade B (Rs 1 cr): Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuvraj Singh
Grade C (Rs 50 lakh): Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Amit Mishra, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, Ashish Nehra, Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Parthiv Patel, Jayant Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shardul Thakur, Rishabh Pant.