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Former India middle-order batsman and 2011 50-over World Cup winner under MS Dhoni's captaincy, Suresh Raina feels that the 2011 Cricket World Cup was scripted. Raina made this claim during his recent appearance in a Lallantop interview, where he confirmed that India's CWC final win against Sri Lanka as well as the entire tournament was scripted but it was scripted by the Lord above. The former left-hand batter made a lot of interesting revelations in that interview and this was one of them.

In that World Cup edition, Suresh Raina hadn't played many matches for the Men in Blue but he was a part of the process and knew every single thing that was involved in the World Cup win. Raina might have played fewer matches in the CWC but the games that he played, were very important. His debut in the 50-over WC had taken place in Chennai against the West Indies.

Raina's debut World Cup edition

Suresh Raina's second appearance came during the WC's 2nd Quarter-finals against Australia in Ahmedabad where India had defeated the reigning champions. He then played in the semi-finals against Pakistan in Mohali and his 4th match was the glorious finale in Mohali where the Indians had defeated the Sri Lankans by 6 wickets and lifted the elusive trophy for the first time since 1983.

Suresh Raina explains how the CWC 2011 was scripted

Suresh Raina first admitted that there was a tense atmosphere in the dressing room after the early dismissals of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. But India's hopes started to shape up with the partnership that Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir had for the 3rd wicket. Raina then reminisced about MS Dhoni walking out to bat after Kohli's departure instead of an in-form Yuvraj Singh, who was in his prime form.

Suresh Raina did claim that he was shocked to see Dhoni going to bat before Yuvraj before saying that MSD wanted a left-hand and right-hand combination to tackle the spin of Muralitharan. Raina also stated that Dhoni's decision to go before Yuvi, who was adjudged as man of the tournament after the final, was a masterstroke of a decision and that everything that happened in the final and in the entire tournament felt like a well-written script by the God above.

"There was silence in the dressing room after the first two wickets fell but the partnership between Gauti bhai and Virat (changed the match). When Virat's wicket fell I was there in the dressing room, Dhoni bhai was going out to bat. When I saw that I was like what happened all of a sudden because Yuvi Pa was in a sensational form," Suresh Raina said via Lallantop.

"And all the decisions that Dhoni bhai took were all master strokes because there was Muralitharan, who used to play for CSK at that time, so I thought he wanted to have a left-right combination even though Yuvi Pa was in his prime form. But that decision was also a masterstroke.

"Before that in the quarter-final match, Ashwin was playing and he was replaced by Ashu bhai against Pakistan. So I felt like the World Cup was scripted. That whatever is happening was bound to happen and it was written by the Lord above," Raina concluded.

 

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Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator, Aakash Chopra, expressed his surprise at Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya's batting position against Rajasthan Royals (RR) during their IPL 2024 clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 22.

The cricket expert further questioned why the all-rounder bats lower down the order for the Mumbai Indians (MI), saying this decision is strange and wrong as Pandya's batting style is best suited at the top of the batting order. He claimed that Pandya's strengths lie in aggressive batting, where he can quickly accumulate runs, rather than playing a consolidating role.

Hence, Chopra feels it is unfair to criticize Pandya for scoring 10 runs off 10 balls while batting at number 8 during the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) 9-wicket loss to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 38th game of the ongoing IPL 2024 since that batting position doesn't align with his style and approach.

Aakash Chopra questions Hardik Pandya's batting position vs RR

Aakash Chopra said in a video posted on his YouTube Channel: “Why does Hardik Pandya bring himself so low in the order - I have no clue because he is doing wrong. You can criticize him for scoring 10 runs off 10 balls but I believe you are coming at the wrong number. Hardik Pandya is not the kind of batter who scores 30 runs off 10 balls.”

He further highlighted Pandya's batting style, saying he is capable of accelerating after a slow start, and he should be given more opportunities higher up the batting order to maximize his potential impact for the MI in the ongoing IPL 2024.

Chopra added, “Hardik Pandya is the kind of batter who, if he scored 10 runs off 10 balls at the start, can score 75 off 40 after that. He will have to give himself time. He will have to come up the order, which he is not doing. I feel the resources could have been utilized slightly better. He pushed himself too low, which, in my opinion, wasn't a great thing to do.”

They didn't have a good start: Aakash Chopra

In the end, Aakash Chopra highlighted the significance of a strong start while batting first after winning the toss. However, Mumbai Indians (MI) faced early setbacks as both their openers were dismissed early, with Rohit Sharma falling to Trent Boult for just 6 and Ishan Kishan to Sandeep Sharma for 0 in the IPL 2024 match.

Despite these setbacks, there were commendable performances from players like Tilak Varma, who scored a half-century, and Nehal Wadhera (49) against the Royals in Jaipur.

Mohammad Nabi (23) also made a valuable contribution with the bat, and Chopra noted that these performances helped the MI to regain momentum, with the possibility of reaching a score of 200 runs at one point.

However, the five-time IPL champions fell short of this target, primarily due to a lack of runs scored in the last two overs, and those were only nine runs, and the tourists suffered a massive defeat against RR on Monday.

They will next face the Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 27 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the tournament.

 

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Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who is extremely vocal with his thoughts be it on X or the commentary box, decimated Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya. The former player brought up the viral incident which took place during MI's victory over Punjab Kings a few days ago. Therein, seamer Akash Madhwal was seen ignoring Pandya and taking instructions from former captain Rohit Sharma before bowling the 20th over of the match.

The video of Akash Madhwal side-eyeing Hardik Pandya and paying attention to Rohit Sharma went absolutely viral on Instagram, Facebook, and X. This also speaks volumes about the co-ordination that Pandya has with the young and new players, who are still in the bubble that Rohit is their captain. That's what exactly Irfan Pathan was trying to convey yesterday while commentating during the match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh stadium.

Irfan Pathan claims that MI players don't have confidence in Hardik Pandya

While seeing Hardik Pandya finding it tough to defend a 180+ total against Rajasthan Royals last night, Irfan Pathan kind of added salt to the all-rounder's wounds. Pathan started describing the way Akash Madhwal ignored Pandya before bowling the final over of the match in order to carefully understand the inputs of Rohit Sharma. Pathan also highlighted the way Madhwal side-eyed Pandya and how he was looking at Rohit and only cared about him during the conversation.

According to Irfan Pathan, these types of situations occur only when players in the team do not have confidence in their captain and consider someone else as the leader. While this definitely is an alarming sign for Hardik, who reached the finals of IPL consecutively in his first two full seasons as captain of Gujarat Titans, Pathan feels that the all-rounder can turn it around for good.

"In the previous match, there was a very interesting situation that unfolded. Before the final over, Rohit Sharma, Akash Madhwal and Hardik Pandya were standing together. It was a full-on pressure situation. Akash Madhwal was only looking at Rohit Sharma. Only talking to him as to what sort of field to set."

"Now that happens when you have confidence that 'This guy (Rohit], not the other one [Hardik] is my captain. This thing needs to change which I feel Hardik can," Irfan Pathan said on air via Star Sports Hindi.

Pathan expresses worry about Pandya's poor form

After making those comments on air, Irfan Pathan took to X to express his worry about Hardik Pandya's out-of-form self and him going out of form this IPL season. Pathan stated that this is an alarming sign in the longer run not just for Pandya but also for the Indian team as well as Mumbai Indians.
"Hardik Pandya’s hitting ability is going down. That’s a big worry on a larger picture. At the wankhede he is different but on pitches where there is little help is what is worrisome for him," Pathan concluded.