Suresh Raina explains why 'matured enough' Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should have played in Duleep Trophy

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Suresh Raina has echoed the sentiments of Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar, and said that senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should have played in the Duleep Trophy 2024 first-round matches.

India are scheduled to play Bangladesh in a two-match Test series starting September 19 in Chennai, and Raina reckoned that the Duleep Trophy match would have helped Kohli and Rohit get into the red-ball cricket mode. However, he added that spending time with family is also important at times.

“Yes, they should’ve played, you see we haven’t played red-ball cricket ever since the IPL ended. Since, we’re heading towards a crucial Test series, one must play 4 day cricket and get used to how the wicket will behave on Day 4. I think they’re matured enough when they will regroup for 4-5 days and start practising. Sometimes, family-time is also important,” Suresh Raina told Sports Tak.

Suresh Raina talks about challenges India can face in Kanpur Test vs Bangladesh

Further, the former cricketer also explained challenged India can face in the second Test against Bangladesh from September 27. He said the ball will not turn much due to dew, adding that playing in gloomy weather will also have its own challenge. He also warned India to not take Bangladesh, who defeated Pakistan by 10 wickets recently, lightly.

“But when they will play in Kanpur where the wicket will solid in October and won’t spin much as there will be dew factor. The ground is near river Ganga and hence there will be cold mornings. The weather will be gloomy hence they will need to tackle that but the Indian team is very strong. However, we can’t take Bangladesh lightly as they’ve recently beaten Pakistan in the first Test in Rawalpindi. Hopefully, we will get some good cricket to watch,” Raina added.