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The Forgotten Warriors Ep 3Hello peeps,
Thank you for showing so much love for this series. I am elated to see the response in the last 2 episode. Today, we will talk about 1986 born the Nawab of Muradnagar, @ImRaina and his 2011 world cup heroics. (2011 WC special) 1/n
Raina's career before 2011 WCThe southpaw made his debut against SL in 2005 that didn't go well as he could not trouble the scorer and got dismissed for a golden duck but soon started finding his feet. He had few note worthy innings that included 35* vs Pak at Multan.. 2/n
81* vs Eng at Faridabad in which Ind were 92/5 at one stage chasing Eng's 226 and in this series, he had 2 more fifties that gave the world a glimpse of the impact he can have on the game. However, the series was followed by couple of arduous series at home that led to his axing.
The comebackHe came back roaring in the Asia cup in 2008 scoring 372 runs at an avg of 74.4 and was a regular in the side thereon in LOI's scoring impactful knocks such as 84 vs Pak, 106 vs SL, 38* vs NZ, 76 vs SL
4/n
2011- Scenes before the WCIndia toured SA in the end of 2010. While Raina was abysmal, largly troubled by the bouncers, avgd 22 in the 5 matches in the series. His teammate Yusuf Pathan, on the other hand, was colossal avg 55 in 3 matches that included a 100. 5/n
World CupThe pre-tournament knocks meant India went with Yusuf in the XI, and injury to Rohit Sharma meant Raina did not lose his spot from the XV. The start went well with Delhi boys Sehwag and Kohli blasted Bang attack in unison. However, thinks became tricky thereon. 6/n
IND 5M 3W 1T 1L 7 PointsVs Eng 305-5 to 328 All out, Match Tied
Vs Ire chased 210 in the 46th over
Vs Net lost 5 wkts while chasing 189
Vs SA 267/1 in 39.1 overs to 296 All out, Result lost.
Clearly, Ind didn't have it easy and Yusuf scores also read 8, 14, 30, 11, 0. 7/n
Luck by ChanceThe factor that might have worried the Indian team was the way the MO and lower MO squandered opportunities to assert Ind's dominance. The match vs WI was a do or die for the home team and they had to play it without Sehwag. This gave a chance to Raina. 8/n
Things didn't improve though, as Ind squander Yuv 100 by getting all out for 268 while being 218/3 at one stage. Raina (4) failed but was lucky that Yusuf (11) had another failure in his kitty. Also, Raina took a wicket in that match which meant Ind went with Raina in the QF. 9/n
The Quater-FinalsThe 4 time WC took on the host at Motera. Aus batted 1st and thanks to one of my fav Ponting innings they scored 260/6 in the 50 overs. Ind started steadily with Sachin stewarding the top order with 44 and 50 run partnerships. Ind were 94/2. 10/n
The Partnership94/2 became 143/3, 168/4, and soon became 187/5. Ind needed 73 runs off 75 balls. The ball colour resembled the pitch with bowlers like Lee, Watson, Johnson and Tait firing all cylinders. Raina joined Yuvraj in one of the best lower MO partnerships. 11/n
Yuvraj announced the partnership with a boundary at covers and furious cut to point. Raina joined in pulling one to midwicket. The ball travelled to fine leg, third man fence soon. The telling blow came from the youngster when he hit one over long on against Lee to seal the deal.
The Semi FinalIndia batted first and by the second over of the day one could tell it was not Umar Gul's day after all. He was hit for 21 runs by Sehwag and in 5.5 overs Ind had reached 48 when Sehwag was adjudged LBW for 38. The pitch there after settled down. 13/n
Sachin played one of the toughest World Cup innings. Meanwhile, Wahab was throwing bullets after bullets. India soon found themselves tottering at 141/4 that became 5/187 and 6/205 at the 42nd over but we still had Raina at other end. 14/n
The Mohali DynamiteRaina knew his targets. While Bhajji chipped in with few good shots early on. He primarily targetted the day's worst bowler, Umar Gul. His 1st over of the 3rd spell,45th over of the match, was hit to long on on the up and that was followed by wide..15/n
And couple of full tosses. Ind found 14 runs in the over. He followed this witj ew more against Umar Gul making sure Ind reach 260/9 im 50 overs. Figuratively, Raina might have score 34* and 36* but in terms of impact they were as huge as Rohit's 50 against SA in 2007 Wt20. 16/n
To conclude, yes run-machines like Sachin and Kohli are important but till we lack match winners and impact players in the middle order and lower MO, we will keep seeing wow SF journeys but might lack amazing World cup victories. Hope you guys enjoy the long thread. 17/n
