Watch: When Suresh Raina faked a throw in 2014 to confuse batters and nearly help pull off a run out

Former India left-hand batsman Suresh Raina is remembered fondly for his exploits as a fieldsman. Be it as an outfielder or one positioned closer to the bat, Raina gave a great account of his agility and awareness on the ground. But how many remember that the cricketer was once involved in a fake throw incident? […]
 By Kashish Chadha Aug 26, 2021, 16:43 IST
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Watch: When Suresh Raina faked a throw in 2014 to confuse batters and nearly help pull off a run out

Former India left-hand batsman Suresh Raina is remembered fondly for his exploits as a fieldsman. Be it as an outfielder or one positioned closer to the bat, Raina gave a great account of his agility and awareness on the ground.

But how many remember that the cricketer was once involved in a fake throw incident?

The incident, coincidentally, is from Suresh Raina’s last Test match for India. Fielding at the leg gully for off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the second innings of the 2015 New Year’s Test at SCG, the veteran cricketer was seen making an attempt to confuse the batter with his antics.

Also Read – Fake Fielding: Watch 10 Instances Of Fielders Attempting To Feign The Batsmen

When Suresh Raina nearly created a run-out through fake fielding

On a drying surface, Ashwin, bowling to Shane Watson, got the ball to turn sharply down the leg side while the batter shouldered arms in an effort to avoid the two close-in fieldsmen on the leg side.

Watch: When Suresh Raina faked a throw in 2014 to confuse batters and nearly help pull off a run out

The delivery slipped through the hands of wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and seeing that, non-striker Chris Rogers called Watson for a run. It’s there the real fun began, as Rogers nearly ended up getting Watson run-out because of Raina.

Despite not even holding the ball, Raina acted as if he is throwing the ball and created a genuine mix-up between Rogers and Watson.

While the two batters tried to attain clarity of the situation, first-slip Murali Vijay got around the ball and threw it at the stumps towards Watson’s end.

But another rare error on Saha’s part saved the batter as he failed to collect the throw cleanly and couldn’t dislodge the bails even as Watson struggled to make up his ground.

Saha, usually so safe behind the stumps, made a mistake and gave Watson his moment of relief when he could easily have been walking back to the shed.

 

The run-out possibility was created by Suresh Raina’s fake throw which would, however, may have fallen under the umpires’ scrutiny, if it were after 2017 when the MCC integrated the fake fielding law that barred fielding teams from making any such attempts to unfairly disguise the batters.

Raina was so brilliant that he faked the throw to confuse the batsmen, and then moved away quickly to help the other fielder make a direct hit.

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