In a recent report from the Indian Express, it has been revealed that the young Ajinkya Rahane was never the first choice as Indian captain for the recently concluded tour of Zimbabwe, during which India played three ODIs & 2 T20Is. Instead of Rahane, Suresh Raina was the favored candidate for the captain’s post. But, he was given ‘rest’ when a top BCCI official advised the selectors to do so.
The team for the Zimbabwe tour was scheduled to be decided on 29th June and Raina seemed probable to be the captain for the tour. But just two days before the meeting of the selection committee, the scandalous leakage of Lalit Modi’s letter to the ICC created chaos. In the letter, Modi had stated that Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja & Dwayne Bravo had accepted gifts in cash and kind from a prestigious Indian businessman. All three of these play for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
In the post selection conference, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said, “These three are international players, and the ICC has to conduct an enquiry. So far, ICC has not come out with a report. There is no information from the ICC as of now. In a way, this is clean chit.” But still the rumors were in air as he was given undue ‘rest’ from the tour.
When it came to clarifying, Raina himself said – “I would like to make my fans around the world aware, and clear the air, that I have always played the game in the right spirit and with utmost integrity. I have never been involved in any wrongdoing and all allegations against me are false. Playing cricket is my passion, for whichever team I have represented. I am also figuring out my legal rights to take the right steps ahead in this matter.”
