After being left out in the lurch, Raina finds his feet

“My feet are moving well now. My head position is also good. Things are working out for me now. It’s not easy when you are coming back from an injury,” said the UP player on Sunday after he was adjudged the Man of the Series during the Challenger.

So what was wrong with Raina’s footwork earlier? Was that a problem and did it lead to his ouster from the team? “There was no problem. Actually, I didn’t get much opportunity to play a big innings. I had quite a few scores of 20s and 30s. When you are batting at No 7, you just have 10 overs to play, and then too if someone like (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni is at the other end, you tend to give him more strikes. So you have to put things in the right perspective to analyse my career. I am feeling well and enjoying my game at the moment,” added Raina.

India Red coach Lalchand Rajput, the team against which the batsman scored two half-centuries was all praise for the left-hander. “His innings were a treat to watch. Superb cover drives and off-drives. Particularly some of those in the final were very attractive,” said Rajput.

Sample some: In the final on Sunday against Red, he hit three boundaries in the first five balls he faced — all through the off-side. First, he came down the pitch, and slashed a wide delivery from Shrikant Mundhe over point. He then punched a wide half volley through the cover region. Two balls later, Mundhe over pitched again to be given the same treatment. Raina leaned on to it and smashed it past extra-cover. But the best of the lot came later when he got on the front foot and drove Siddharth Trivedi’s good length delivery through the cover.

“That was a beautiful shot. He used the pace of the ball well. Immediately after coming to the crease, he started playing his shots, thus putting pressure on the bowlers,” acknowledged Trivedi. Another shot off Pankaj Singh in the previous match against Green will take some time to forget. Singh bowled short and wide, and Raina hit it past point, a swift square drive.

For the time being, he will go back and join his state Ranji team and prepare for the forthcoming season. There are a lot of contenders for that middle-order spot, but the impression he’s left in this tournament will last in the memory of national selectors long enough — and earn him a recall to Team India in this long international season.