"Suresh Raina entered my life like a God" - SRH's young player!

SRH youngster hails Suresh Raina saying the latter entered like a God.

The 15th season of the IPL series is going on in full swing in India. Many of the young players in this series have been playing wonderfully. Among them is Sunrisers Hyderabad fast bowler Kartik Tyagi. Although he has yet to get a chance at the playing level in the current IPL series, he showed great play last year.

Kartik Tyagi played for the Rajasthan Royals in 2021. He then took 4 runs to win the last over of a match against Punjab. Kartik, who bowled the over, gave up just 1 run in search of victory. Following this, the Hyderabad team has auctioned him for Rs 4 crore in the current IPL series.

Kartik Tyagi has said that former India captain Suresh Raina helped him in his early cricket career. In it, “Like I always say one thing, that after Under-16, Suresh Raina entered my life like a god because people started to recognise me when I was selected for Ranji Trophy. When I was 13, I participated in the Under-14 trials and this is where my cricketing journey began. I started playing for the Under-14 team and then Under-16. In the U-16, there was a season where I got 50 wickets in 7 matches. That is where the selectors started noticing that there is a player who has been taking a lot of wickets at the State level. Despite taking plenty of wickets, we reached the finals but lost. It was there that Gyanendra Pandey sir spotted me and he said that he was impressed by my performances and he will promote me going forward."

“From there I reached the State Ranji Trophy camp. When I arrived, I was just a 16-year-old youngster while the others were established players. Then there was an incident where Suresh Raina had also come. I used to be very silent and was observing everything. He was about to leave after his practice, but I don’t know why he came back to the ground. He then approached me and asked me about what was my role. I told him that I was a bowler and then he gave me a chance to bowl in the nets. He saw my performance and told me that ‘I liked your bowling and I will ensure you get chances in the future.”

"Personally, for me, it was a good thing that someone like Suresh Raina noticed my performance. I was a little shocked that such a big player has complimented me and for a moment, I thought that he was joking. When he said that I was doing well, I still couldn’t believe that I will get a chance to play in the coming days. After that, it was quite shocking for me that my name was shortlisted in the UP Ranji team. My Ranji career started from there and later I progressed to the Under-19 team and eventually played the Under-19 World Cup”, he added.