30 July,2010 07:30 AM IST | | Bipin Dani
On his debut Test, Suresh Raina was not only inspired by teammates, but his coach, Sat Pal Krishan as well.
Krishan sent a special message to his ward in Colombo to grab the Test opportunity with both hands.
"When it was announced that Raina would play his first Test, I sent a message to him and told him to grab the chance he has received after playing ODIs for more than five years," the coach said from Jalandhar.
"He pleased me by scoring a ton. I am obviously delighted for him," the coach said. "I knew he could be a good Test batsman and always reminded him to think of playing Tests. He was included in the Test squad in early 2006, but did not get a chance," the coach added.
Raina was called up to the Test squad at the expense of former captain Sourav Ganguly against England, but did not make the playing XI.
The youngest in a family of five children, Raina decided to take up cricket seriously in 1999. He moved from his hometown, Ghaziabad, near New Delhi, to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh to attend the government's Sports College, where he was coached by Krishan.
Interestingly, Raina had gifted a car (golden I 10 sportz), to his coach last year. "Raina is very close to our family. He wanted to gift the car to my daughter on her wedding, but she refused. He was adamant and delivered a brand new car to me recently," he added.
(The writer is a freelancer)
