SA, Windies favourites for T20 WC: Raina

Dubai - Here on a holiday, he reckons South Africa with AB De Villiers, and the Windies with Chris Gayle still in T20 form, as the favourites for the trophy.

 Suresh Raina is a firebrand cricketer who has stood out like a champion in the middle order, and has obliged with telling effect, when asked to bowl his part time off breaks.
One of the veteran spearheads in the Indian team's plans for the coming T20 World Cup (T20 WC) in India next year, Raina is immensely gifted and is a pleasure to watch for the grace and aggression with which he goes about his work on the field.
Here on a holiday, he reckons South Africa with AB De Villiers, and the Windies with Chris Gayle still in T20 form, as the favourites for the trophy.
"AB (De Villiers) and the all-round skills of South Africans make them a formidable squad, that in current form can tear the opposition apart," Raina, whose visit here includes promotional work for Sakshi Advertising & PR agency, told Khaleej Times. A solid striker of the ball, Raina possesses the rare quality of performing well under pressure, and the India superstar added: "For India it will be 50-50 like most of the other favourite sides like Australia, England and Sri Lanka. Then we have the newer Test nations and the associate squads, all having the basic ammunition for upsets. Pakistan are as always dangerous and their new look team this time can gel at the right time, which will be a gigantic task for their opponents."
"T20 cricket is decision making done in minutes and there is no room for Plan B. Things happen so quickly. Both the Windies and South Africa know the Indian attack well especially Ashwin (Ravichandran) and Jadeja (Ravindra) from the IPL experience," Raina, who is one of the best fielders in the world in all forms of the sport, continued.
The grace and poise with which he handles the pressure situations, including during his stint in the shorter versions as the stand-in captain of the Indian team, Raina said it is all in the mind and body. "When we enjoy or even try to appreciate the well-being of the mind and body as one single piece of coordinated harmony, then the workload becomes far quicker and easier. Like my wife, who is on a short visit in Amsterdam now, I am into theraband practice where without any gym type or weight training, close tabs can be kept on the body patterns and build-up. We have to be honest to our body and then with a mindset and dietary discipline, we can overcome stress and fatigue even if the going is hard," he added.
"The T20 world cup in India will be a very pleasant experience for everyone as the cold phase of winter would be over by then with moderate temperatures in most of the northern Indian city venues. It will be a very close Cup as always, in this format of the sport," Raina said.
moni@khaleejtimes.com