Senior Team India batsman Suresh Raina has lost his spot due to the healthy competition within the team for being out of sorts. However, he has credited the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 for paving him a way to prepare for the impending twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The IPL 2019 will be underway on March 23 when the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) led by MS Dhoni will lock horns with Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai.
The IPL leading run-scorer Raina revealed the ongoing edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019, the domestic Twenty20 competition, has helped him to work on his game ahead of the IPL.
Raina is fighting hard to excel in the IPL:
He maintained he’s giving best during the net sessions to deliver goods for the CSK.
“I’m at the nets three-four times a week. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (India’s domestic Twenty20 competition) has given me some match practise before the IPL,” Raina told Reuters.
Interestingly, the 32-year-old Raina has harboured hopes to make it to the 2019 World Cup squad for Team India. The ODI showpiece will begin on May 30 in London. He’s also a significant opportunity to impress the selectors in the lead up to the World Cup.
“As an Indian player my job is to work hard and hope for the best,” Raina added.
The elegant southpaw in Raina forms a core for the CSK in the middle.
Raina dedicates himself to the fitness:
Also, Raina is putting in strenuous efforts to prepare for the impending IPL edition. While relying on different workouts, Raina is focusing solely on his fitness.
“I have a mix of activities that I do. I am currently doing a lot of high intensity workouts in the gym. [It’s] followed by strength and conditioning sessions,” Raina further said.
He had played a vital role for the yellow brigade in the first eight editions of the IPL. But with CSK remaining defunct for two-years due to the fixing scandal which rocked IPL in 2013, Raina led Gujarat Lions (GL) for two seasons between 2016 and 2017 respectively.
However, Raina returned to the old team following a two-year hiatus. In between, he helped his side to lift their third overall title of the IPL history. With this, the CSK has equalled the record of Mumbai Indians (MI) on winning three IPL trophies.
In the eleventh edition of the IPL, Raina has amassed 445 runs at an average of 37.08. He went on to slam three fifties under his belt.
Apart from it, in overall 176 IPL games, Raina has accumulated 4985 runs. He has a solitary hundred to his name apart from 35 fifties since making his debut in 2008.