Veteran Indian batter Suresh Raina announced his retirement from all formats of cricket on September 6th. Suresh had already retired from international cricket, and announced it on August 15, 2020, shortly after MS Dhoni had retired.
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Celebrating Suresh Raina
As Indian cricketer, Suresh Raina retires let’s celebrate his cricketing career. Let’s see how his journey began.
With a dream to play for his nation, Raina started playing cricket in the year 2000. He got selected to present Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) at the U-16 level, soon he came to prominence amongst Indian selectors in 2002. He got selected in the Indian contingent for the U-19 tour to England at age15 and half a year. Later he was also named for the Sri Lankan tour. 16-year-old Raina made his Ranji Trophy debut for Uttar Pradesh the next year. He further toured Pakistan for the U-19 Asian ODI Championship before being selected for the 2004 U-19 World Cup, where he scored 3 half-centuries, and also smashed an astonishing 90 off just 3 balls. Impressing everyone by his performance in the tournament he earned the Border-Gavaskar scholarship to train at the Australian Cricket Academy and in early 2005, Raina made his debut in first-class limited overs.
Suresh Raina International Career
Raina made a glamorous entry into international cricket, as he played an unbeaten knock of 36 in the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup. However, young Raina couldn’t continue the same as his performance in the next tours across different formats was below average. Nonetheless, Raina got a rough patch by scoring a magnificent 65 off 45 in the third ODI of the Indian tour of Sri Lanka in 2012. Which helped India win the match with 5 wickets in hand. Raina eventually won the Man of the Match award for his performance.
Suresh Raina’s first outing as the Indian skipper was in the year 2011 during the West Indies tour. However, this only happened because the current captain Gautam Gambhir was ruled out due to an injury. While Raina has done miracles with his bat on various occasions. He has a good record as the Indian captain too. During the 2014 Bangladesh series, he led his team to a 2-0 victory in the series. Moreover, during the 2nd match of the series, Raina and his lads defended a meager target of 105, eventually winning the match by 47 runs.
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Major Achievements and Big Records
- Considering his overall performance in the year 2012, Raina was named as the 12th man in the ‘Team of the tournament’ for the 2012 T20 World Cup by the ICC.
- His century against England during the England Tour of India 2012-13 at Cardiff was nominated to be one of the best ODI batting performances of the year by ESPNCricinfo.
- He was the first Indian player to score 6000 as well as 8000 runs in his T20 career.
- He is the first ever cricketer to reach 5000 runs in the IPL.
- He holds the record for the most number of catches i.e. 107 in the IPL.
- He is the highest run-scorer in the Champions League T20 (842 runs).
- He holds the record for scoring the most fifties in CLT20 history (6).
- He holds the record for the most runs scored in the Powerplay in an IPL match.
- He is the second youngest player to captain India.
Career Stats
A left-handed attacking middle-order batter, Raina had more success in limited over cricket than in test. Let’s take a look at Suresh Raina’s career stats.
| FORMAT | T20I | ODI | TEST |
| MATCHES | 78 | 226 | 18 |
| RUNS | 1605 | 5615 | 768 |
| AVERAGE | 29.18 | 35.31 | 26.48 |
| 100s/50s | 1/5 | 5/36 | 1/7 |
| TOP SCORE | 101 | 116* | 120 |
| BALLS BOWLED | 349 | 2126 | 1041 |
| WICKETS TAKEN | 13 | 36 | 13 |
| BOWLING AVERAGE | 34.00 | 50.30 | 46.38 |
| BEST FIGURES | 2/6 | 3/34 | 2/1 |
| CATCHES | 42 | 102 | 23 |
Suresh Raina’s IPL Stats
| SPAN | 2008-21 (except 2020) |
| MATCHES | 205 |
| TOTAL RUNS | 5528 |
| HIGHEST | 100* |
| BATTING AVERAGE | 32.52 |
| STRIKE RATE | 136.76 |
| 100s/50s | 1/39 |
| BALLS BOWLED | 908 |
| WICKETS TAKEN | 25 |
| BEST FIGURES | 2/0 |
| ECONOMY | 7.39 |
Suresh Raina’s Personal life
Suresh Kumar Raina was born on 27 November 1986 in Muradnagar of Uttar Pradesh. Raina trained in the Guru Gobind Singh sports college, Lucknow.
On 3rd April 2015, Raina married Priyanka Choudhary and now they have two children.
Raina received an honorary doctorate from Vels University on 5 August 2022.
Raina has now retired from all formats of cricket. This decision will allow Raina to play overseas tournaments like the Road Safety Series, for which he has already been confirmed,
“I want to continue playing cricket for two or three years. There are some exciting youngsters who are coming through the ranks of Uttar Pradesh cricket. I have already taken my No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA). I have informed BCCI secretary Jay Shah and vice-president Rajiv Shukla about my decision. I will play in the Road Safety Series. T20 franchises from South Africa, Sri Lanka and UAE have contacted me but I am yet to take any decision.”
We wish Suresh Raina a wonderful future ahead. We also hope to see him spread his cricket knowledge and experience with youngsters as his life is an inspiration for budding cricketers.
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