The Indian cricket has been off-late at the helm in almost all three formats of the game. However, things were not the same in the near past. India had an unforgettable 2011-12 season. Post-2011 World Cup victory, the Indian team looked deflated facing whitewash against England and Australia. Nevertheless, the men in blue have come a long way since.
The Indian team has been one of the most formidable batting sides in the world but what has changed since 2011 is the improvement in other aspects of the game. Virat Kohli and Company has set high standards in fielding while the bowling department is currently one of the best in the world. The major change that has caught the eyes of many greats of the game is that the Indian batsmen, who were once considered as flat track bully and the short balls which could just knock them out, have become amazing hookers and pullers of the short ball. A quality that was rare and considered to be a distant dream even for the MS Dhoni led world champion side.
So who is to be credited for the change? Who has been the person behind the curtains to make the Men in Blue such extraordinary puller and hookers of the short ball? The answer lies in the speech of Virat Kohli after the India’s semi-final win against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy 2017. Virat had credited one man called Raghu, India’s throw-down specialist, as he said,
“The success of a batsman does not get much significance for those who work for him behind the scenes. But I believe that especially Raghu has made me very strong by practising on the speed of 140 km.”
Raghu’s training methods have helped many batsmen including Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan. He is said to have the ability to hit the ball hard into the pitch which gets desired bounce for the batsmen to prepare for short balls. Raghu in addition to being a throw ball specialist also helps the Indian team in a lot of other ways. He manages form complimentary tickets to training gears for the players.
DGVI Raghavindraa, popularly known are Raghu in the team, hails from Kumta in North Canara district of Karnataka. Like every other aspiring cricketer in India of his time, Raghu came to Mumbai in the 1990s with a dream to wear the blue jersey for India. However, destiny had other plans for the Karnataka lad. He did not enjoy success as a player in the field of cricket but to this wonder, he did pick a unique art of sending down throw-downs after spending hours at nets.
His rare quality caught the eyes of greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid upon whose request he was first hired by the National Cricket Academy in the Millennia year and later was sent to Australia with the Indian team in December 2011 as an assistant. From there on Raghu has never looked back as he still continues to be an integral part of the Indian side.
