Suresh Raina has come to the defence of Virat Kohli, who has been constantly criticized for the lack of trophies in his cabinet during his captaincy tenure, saying we need to give him more time.
Indian skipper has been under scrutiny for years now, mainly because he hasn’t been able to win any major trophies. Former India player Suresh Raina has weighed in on the debate, asserting that Kohli needs to be given more time as a captain.
In a conversation with News24 Sports, Raina said,
“You’re talking about ICC trophies, he hasn’t even won an IPL”.
The comments soon sparked outrage on social media as they were taken out of context. Raina believes that Kohli has been the best captain as far as the record is concerned.
“I think he has been the No. 1 captain. His record shows that he has achieved a lot. I think he is the No. 1 batsman in the world. You’re talking about an ICC trophy, but he hasn’t even won an IPL yet. I feel that he needs to be given some time,”
Raina said.
Kohli became India’s Test skipper in December 2014 and took over the limited-overs captaincy in 2017. While the Test team reached great heights under his tenure, the limited-overs side has failed in two ICC events. He has also been the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL for a decade but hasn’t been able to take RCB to a single IPL championship.
However, Raina has backed the Delhi-born superstar, saying reaching the finals is not easy. Raina asserted that with three ICC events lined up in the next three years, a trophy for India is not far away.
“There are 2-3 World Cups taking place one after the other – two T20 World Cups and then the 50-over World Cup. It’s not easy to reach the final – sometimes you miss out on a few things,”
“We need to give them a little more time. They are doing well, and Virat (Kohli) has the capability to change the game. We need to respect the new style of this team. But I feel that in the next 12 to 16 months, an ICC trophy is going to come to India,”
Raina stated.
We are not chokers: Raina
Indian cricket team last won an ICC event in 2013, when MS Dhoni-led India to a dramatic Champions Trophy victory. Since then, India have lost the 2014 WT20 final, 2016 WT20 semifinal, 2017 Champions Trophy final, 2019 CWC semifinal.
Just recently, India lost another ICC event, when Kane Williamson-led New Zealand defeated India in the World Test Championship final at Southampton. India suffered a batting collapse on the last day of the Test as they went on to lose by eight wickets.
Fans have since then called Indian cricket team the real chokers of the game. Raina didn’t seem amused by the remarks as he thinks with three World Cups in the cabinet, India do not deserve such a tag.
“See, we are not chokers, because we already have the 1983 World Cup, 2007 T20 World Cup the then 50-over World Cup in 2011. With three World Cups, I don’t think anyone will call them chokers,”
Raina added
Suresh Raina represented India in 322 International matches across formats and was the first Indian player to score a century in all three formats. The southpaw, who amassed over 5000 runs for India in ODIs, was a part of India’s 2011 CWC triumph. Raina retired from International cricket on August 15 soon after Dhoni announced his retirement.
