India v West Indies 2011 - Suresh Raina asks teammates to relish ODI series victory
India’s stand-in skipper, Suresh Raina, has asked his teammates not to take defeat in the last two One Day Internationals (ODIs) to heart and relish their series victory against West Indies.
Despite losing the last two ODIs, the Indian team won the series 3-2. Team India came to the Caribbean tour with some big names missing the line-up. While Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan withdrew their names from ODI squad, the injuries
ruled Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag out of the whole tour.
Yet, the Men in Blue took a great start to the tour by notching a comprehensive victory in the one-off Twenty20 International. They continued their ruthless march in the 50-over format and thrashed the Caribbean Kings in the first three ODIs of the five-match
series.
However, the side lost its way later in the series, suffering two consecutive, humiliating losses in the previous two matches. Admitting the fact the hosts destroyed his dream to whitewash the series, Raina urged his players not to be frustrated and enjoy
their success.
"It is disappointing that we lost the last two matches but I am happy that we won the series. We need to enjoy the moment”, said Raina.
The Indian side tasted a bitter seven-wicket defeat in the 5th ODI at Sabina Park on Thursday, June 16, 2011. Put into bat, the tourists were bowled out on a small total of 251. Later in the game, the Windies overhauled the target convincingly
with eight balls to spare, thanks to Darren Bravo’s brilliant 86.
Although, Raina came clean that his teammates performed below to their weight, he, at the same time, gave full credit to the Windies for putting up such an impressive effort in the last game.
"I feel we fell short by at least 25 to 30 runs. But full credit to Andre Russell [who took four for 35] for the manner in which he bowled at the death", added the 24-year old left-handed batsman.
Furthermore, Raina vowed that the team will come up with an improved performance in the upcoming Test series, starting from June 20, 2011.