Living on the edge

[Karan114]

Living on the edge Nihal Koshie The packed cricket calendar has allowed Suresh Raina to spend just over two weeks at home in Ghaziabad, that too staggered over a few visits, over 12 months. His last visit, between the end of the World Cup final on April 2 and the start of the IPL IV season in less than a week, lasted just a day. In the midst of a constant blur of take offs and landings, check-ins at airports, training, net practice, cooling-down drills, attending team meetings and playing back-to-back high pressure matches, the longing to return home remained a constant companion to Raina. There were times when he lost his appetite for the exotic, wide-ranging menu at plush team hotels. The craving for his mother's ghar ka khaana became insatiable, something he often told his folks back home while speaking to them between the umpteen games while on the road. So when Raina volunteered to cook a dal-rice meal when he was home during his recent mini-break, his elder brother Dinesh said the family was pleasantly surprised by the culinary skills of one of India's busiest young cricketers. Caught in the blur of a modern Indian cricketer's life, Raina, perhaps forgot to mention how he had tried his hand at cooking, a move necessitated out of his need to overcome homesickness. “Suresh has been so busy for the past one year that he has hardly been able to spend any time at home. We miss him and he misses us too. For us, staying away from each other for long periods is difficult,†Dinesh, a teacher by profession, said. Hence, the family meal — a rarity since the Chennai Super Kings lad became a regular in all three formats of the game — was a priceless moment. “We were pleasantly surprised that he had learnt to make dal. It is one of the ways of surviving when you miss home,†Dinesh said. Just six days separate the end of the IPL, in which Raina’s Chennai lasted till the very end, and the start of the first and only Twenty20 International in Port of Spain followed by the five match one-day series, a period where he will be busy leading the Indian side for the second time in his career. The Raina family will see little of him over the next few months. A never-ending journey Since the start of the last edition of the IPL, Raina has been on the road constantly. He's boarded an estimated 72 flights in between featuring in 109 match days, including Tests, ODIs, T20 Internationals, IPL and the Champions League. He is one of the fittest players in international cricket, but it is a miracle that he hasn't broken down over the past 12 months. It remains a wonder how Raina has escaped being a causality of the non-stop cricket circus, quite like the man he is replacing as skipper for the T20 and ODIs in the West Indies — Gautam Gambhir. A cramp or a stiff hamstring, seemingly what the Chennai Super Kings batsman suffered while making an unbeaten 73 against Bangalore to help the franchise cross the line in a stiff chase in the first qualifying match on Tuesday, can affect the fittest of players. But the toll of unrelenting pressure that comes with playing day-in and day-out on the 24-year-old is potentially severe. Gambhir’s predicament highlighted the danger that Indian cricketers expose themselves by participating in the overdose of the game. He could have been Team India skipper in the upcoming series, but soon after he clutched his right shoulder in obvious discomfort following a throw from the deep to run Rohit Sharma out during the first elimination final on Wednesday, the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders probably knew that it was all over for him, as far as West Indies was concerned. The origins of the injury though, can be traced back to the World Cup final. Injury concerns Gambhir has admitted that his “team needed him†to play, despite the fact that the diagnosis of his right shoulder revealed chronic muscle injury related to tendonitis. KKR’s team physio Andrew Leipus has recommended four-to-six weeks of rest in a report submitted to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on the eve of the game against Mumbai, but Gambhir declared that he wasn't aware of the extent of the injury, even though he has been experiencing intermittent pain since the World Cup final over 50 days ago. Through it all, Gambhir played 15 IPL matches and lifted his team to the top-four after they seemed forever relegated to the bottom rung. But having jeopardised his chance to lead the country only questions his ability to look at the bigger picture. Gambhir though isn't the only India player who wasn’t allowed to recuperate during the IPL. At last count, there are five IPL IV captains who won't be playing the ODIs in West Indies — Yuvraj Singh (illness), Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni (rested), Sehwag and Gambhir (injured). While Zaheer Khan too has been given a break following months of non-stop cricket. Sehwag's story runs rather parallel to Gambhir's. The Delhi Daredevils skipper played 11 matches, but in spite of making 424 runs, he could not save his team from humiliation, nor could he stop the right shoulder from giving way. The tear around his shoulder blade is a long-standing injury, incidentally picked up during the second season of the IPL and resulting in him being unfit to play in the World Twenty20 that followed immediately. Now out for up to eight weeks, he could also miss the Test series in the West Indies, and it isn't clear if he'll be fully fit for the high-profile tour of England. Former Pakistan skipper and Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach Wasim Akram puts the onus on the BCCI to prevent player burn-out. “Top-line Indian cricketers are playing far too much. The itinerary is simply inhuman and the effects are already showing. Gambhir was playing in a BCCI-sanctioned event and was only honouring his commitment towards his franchise. Same with Sehwag. It's a blessing in disguise that Delhi didn’t go the full distance, for it would have only delayed his treatment,†Akram said. Insufficient care Akram is right, for the five-day gap between the World Cup final and the start of the IPL meant that the champions were running on fumes. Gambhir's plight indicates that the BCCI, which runs the IPL through its governing council, isn't doing enough to ensure the best players will always be available when it comes to playing for the country. It is known that the system of getting regular feedback from IPL team physios is in place, as BCCI secretary and member of the IPL's governing council N Srinivasan confirmed. Yet, they were wrong footed by the Gambhir situation. “It’s really hard for the players to say no to the IPL. As a professional cricketer, it is one's responsibility to play. IPL has value for the BCCI, as it is a genuine cricket tournament and it is important to the Indian landscape,†says Stephen Fleming, the current CSK coach. It is not the first, and surely not the last time, that the elite players may fail to exercise prudence when it comes to managing their bodies. Gambhir and Sehwag have paid the price for injured limbs, and also ensured that soon-to-be-leader Raina will bear that much more responsibility on his tired shoulders in the Caribbean. As of now, like in the past 12 months, Raina’s much-needed break and time with his family, will have to wait. (Inputs from Wajiha Shah) http://www.indianexpress.com/news/living-on-the-edge/796738/0

[achilles]

Wonderful article. Feel really bad for Raina and many more like him. Waz makes a good point about BCCI being proactive.

[Sachin=GOD]

The BCCI is really phecking up the scheduling and it is bound to result in player burnouts :wall:

[jairamesh]

hopefully with no world cup next three years, Mrs Raina gets to see baby suresh more often. But don't bet on it with BCCI's and other cricket boards' never ending appetite for money money ching ching.

[Cricket Tragic]

2 weeks at home in the last 1 year? Could someone send this to a few English journalists and players?

[Sooda]

And hes been picked for the test series as well, wrong for two reasons- mainly because he has played so much recently, but also because he is not really a test batsman. So unfair. Why don't the players say something and ask the board to make it easier. We will struggle this year and it will be the boards fault.

[Cricket Tragic]

He was awarded a grade A contract as well. Ridiculous decision.

[sarcastic]

hopefully with no world cup next three years' date=' [b']Mrs Raina gets to see baby suresh more often. But don't bet on it with BCCI's and other cricket boards' never ending appetite for money money ching ching.

I never knew Raina is married. How do you know abt it?

[Tigerbait]

Speaks to the highly competitive and not to mention commercialized nature of the sport now. If Raina so much as hints at the lack of work life balance, then there's 12 other Rainas waiting to replace him. Fact is he will keep going if he wants the fame and fortune.

[saneindian]

2 weeks at home in last 12 months and potentially another 2 weeks in the next 12 months as well unless he loses his test spot. We play 5 ODIs vs England in England in Septemenr and then after a 3 week break (in which CL t20 will be played), play another 5 ODI series with England in India. Wonder what is the need of playing 10 ODIs against the same opposition in 2-3 months? Similarly we have a full tour of WI (3 tests, 5 ODIs, 1 t20) in June-July and then later in the year play another full series with them in India!!

[Cricket Tragic]

2 weeks at home in last 12 months and potentially another 2 weeks in the next 12 months as well unless he loses his test spot. We play 5 ODIs vs England in England in Septemenr and then after a 3 week break (in which CL t20 will be played), play another 5 ODI series with England in India. Wonder what is the need of playing 10 ODIs against the same opposition in 2-3 months? Similarly we have a full tour of WI (3 tests, 5 ODIs, 1 t20) in June-July and then later in the year play another full series with them in India!!

Yeah, it's crazy. The problem is that we haven't had WI tour India since 2002 and haven't toured since 2006. NZ toured last year after 2003. The BCCI only really wants to play against Aus/SA/Eng/SL. So they don't play the series when they're supposed to leading to a back log of series. We're the only team not to invite Bang for a series. They'll push that in at a ridiculous time in the future as well.

[Sachin=GOD]

He was awarded a grade A contract as well. Ridiculous decision.

why is it ridiculous?? he has been one of the most consistent ODI batsmen in out team in the last 2-3 years and has the highest average in the world at no 6 in the last 2 years - so he's one of the best finishers in world cricket and he also brings a lot to the team with his outstanding fielding.

[punjabi_khota]

Ya too bad he has to work extra hard for the gazillion dollars.

[Sachin=GOD]

Ya too bad he has to work extra hard for the gazillion dollars.

Ya too bad he doesn't have any time to enjoy those gazillions of dollars.

[saneindian]

Yeah' date=' it's crazy. The problem is that we haven't had WI tour India since 2002 and haven't toured since 2006. NZ toured last year after 2003. The BCCI only really wants to play against Aus/SA/Eng/SL. So they don't play the series when they're supposed to leading to a back log of series. We're the only team not to invite Bang for a series. They'll push that in at a ridiculous time in the future as well.[/quote'] The England ODI series in India and the ODis in WI could easily have been cut down. We did have an ODI series with WI in WI in 2009 after the t20 WC.

[urbestfriend]

Feel for Raina and wont be surprised if this hectic schedule will cut short his international career by considerable years. There is too much of cricket and youngsters like Raina, Kohli can't even opt for a break from a series or two.

[punjabi_khota]

Ya too bad he doesn't have any time to enjoy those gazillions of dollars.

Most people who earn the kind of money he does, have the same problem. I mean cmon, now we want to feel bad about the successful cricketers ? Damnnit. Sure, we should protest the fact that overburdening them will lead to decline in quality of cricket of our team, but I am sorry, I can't bring myself to feel bad for him missing "Ghar ka khaana" I have ghar ka khana once in 8 months and I am never gonna be rich :finger:

[Sidhoni]

I never knew Raina is married. How do you know abt it?

:facepalm: he was talking abt Raina's mother.

[Sidhoni]

Really feel bad for Raina and the others.

[Ultimate_Game]

Really feel bad for Raina and the others.

They are making millions so I wouldn't worry about them that much. I know many ppl who don't even get to travel home for years, forget about spending just 2 weeks every year at home.