Raina's form a source of concern, admits Dhoni

As much as the lack of runs, it’s the manner in which Raina has been getting out that has been glaring. His short-comings against the rising ball have been well chronicled, but not even hours of practice at nets have helped him overcome his difficulties.

At SuperSport Park, Raina was gobbled up in both innings by Jacques Kallis. In the first, he tamely poked a fullish delivery to gully, sitting on the back foot in every sense of the word. In the second, he steered an innocuous delivery to first slip, almost offering catching practice and suggesting that his frame of mind leaves a lot to be desired.

Since making 32 in the first innings against Australia in Bangalore, Raina’s run of scores in Test cricket have been 3, 0, 20, 3, 1 and 5, adding up to 32 runs in his last four Tests and six innings. That is hardly edifying, and definitely a huge comedown from his debut in August, when he made a sparkling century against Sri Lanka.

After the Nagpur Test against New Zealand last month, Dhoni had said Raina’s poor run had less to do with technical inadequacies and more due to mental fatigue because he had played non-stop cricket since the start of the year and that he needed a break.

That break, quite apparently, hasn’t worked. In all, he spent 28 minutes, faced 16 deliveries and scored six runs in two innings combined in the first Test against South Africa, forcing Dhoni to admit that his failures were a source of concern.

“To some extent, yes,” conceded Dhoni on Monday when asked if Raina’s string of low scores was worrying, quickly adding. “But you need a bit of experience to play under these conditions. The last time he came here was in 2006, and he was not part of the (Test) side. He has played some ODIs and T20s, which is a completely different format.
Against the red ball, the approach changes, the mindset changes. You need a bit of time. I think he will get back to form soon.”

Whether India can afford to wait for Raina to get back to form is another matter altogether, especially when they are fighting to stay alive in the series. There is every possibility that Cheteshwar Pujara, who impressed on debut against Australia in Bangalore, will get his chance in Durban.