Suresh Raina is India's most valuable T20 player: VVS Laxman

New Delhi: Legendary Indian cricketer VVS Laxman on Thursday rated Suresh Raina as Team India's most valuable player in the shortest format of the game.

Laxman, who is arguably the most stylish batsman India has ever produced, hailed the UP batsman for playing outstanding cricket in the recently concluded T20 series Down Under.

“Suresh Raina again demonstrated why he is India’s most valuable Twenty20 player. He understandably looked a little rusty in the first game in Adelaide because he did not have a lot of game-time under his belt, but by the Sydney game, he was back to his best.

“The manner in which he hunted down the big total was exemplary. In Raina’s batting too, I saw a lot of thought having gone in. By making use of the crease, Raina was still able to score heavily in the arc between mid-wicket and fine-leg. He was put through a stern test, and he came through it with flying colours,” wrote Laxman in his column for Cricket Country.

The 41-year-old Hyderabadi also hailed India's limited-overs skipper MS Dhoni's move to promote comeback-man Yuvraj Singh ahead of him in the 3rd T20I.

“I was also pleased to see MS (Dhoni) send out Yuvi to bat in the final T20 with 51 needed from 31 deliveries. Had Yuvi been kept back, there is no gain saying what it would have done for his confidence. You want to feel wanted, you want to be entrusted with responsibility, especially when you are returning to the side after more than a-year-and-a-half.”

Both the southpaws – Yuvi, Raina – showed in the last T20I that the are still big-match players and can change the course of the game single-handedly.