MS Dhoni toughest bowler I've faced in nets: Suresh Raina
Jun 27, 2023
New Delhi [India], June 27 : Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina named MS Dhoni as the toughest bowler he ever faced in his career in the nets.
Raina has been one of the players who played a crucial role in the success the Indian team enjoyed under the leadership of MS Dhoni. In the show 'Home of Heroes', a JioCinema original, Suresh Raina said, "I think Muralitharan and Malinga, but in the nets, it was MS Dhoni. If he got you out in the nets then you'd not be able to sit with him for one and a half month because he'd keep gesturing and remind how he got you out."
"He'd bowl off-spin, medium pace, leg spin, everything. In the nets, he would even justify his front foot no-balls (laughs). Wherever he'd get a red cherry in a Test match he'd go for it. In England, he'd swing it full throttle," Raina added.
Raina is considered to be one of the most successful Indian players but his career didn't start on the note that he would have thought. In July 2005, Raina played his first international ODI match against Sri Lanka.
He got out LBW on the first ball by none other than Muthiah Muralidaran.Raina reflected on that time and said, "I made my debut against Sri Lanka in 2005 and got out LBW on the first ball facing Murali (Muralitharan). That walk to the dressing room was never ending and I kept wondering, will I get another chance? I put in the hard yards in the domestic circuit to reach where I was."
He ended up playing 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20 International for the Indian team. He ended up scoring 768 runs in the Test format, and 5,615 runs in the ODI format with an average of 35.3. While in the T20I format, he struck 1,605 runs with a strike rate of 134.9.
