“Was Stressed About Financial Position…”: Suresh Raina Recalls Tough Time During Career-threatening Knee Injury

Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina reflected on the tough times he went through after being injured. In 2007, Raina suffered a career-threatening knee injury that kept him sidelined for six months. Due to this injury, he was left out of India’s 2007 T20 World Cup squad. The left-handed batter spoke about how he dealt with the mental stress of not being able to compete again, the physical pain of being on crutches, and how his family and friends became his guiding light in dark times .

“When I was injured, more than the physical, it was the mental stress that was taking its toll on me. My family asked me to focus on recovery and not worry about the loan I had taken. The other thing was was eating me up than if I ever stood a chance again because the competition was so tough and the T20 World Cup 2007 was coming up,” Raina said on Jio Cinema

“I then decided to leave my fate in God’s hands and I focused on having a good time with friends and family because this was a chance to spend time with them because I have not spent more than 10-20 days in a year at home since shin. 1998. So, with the love and blessings of my family, I went through the choppy waters easily,” said Raina.

Raina’s mind reached a point where he thought that he might not come back from his injury and play cricket again.

“Yes, that thought crossed my mind. I was stressed about the financial situation that I and the family were in, especially after I took a loan. And if I didn’t play again, it would be over. what was in my control was to strengthen my knee and everything else will come after that,” agreed Raina.

However, Raina overcame the injury and returned to the Indian squad. He ended up playing 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20 Internationals for the Indian team. He ended up scoring 768 runs in the Test format, and 5,615 runs in the ODI format at an average of 35.3. In the T20I format, he scored 1,605 runs with a strike rate of 134.9.