Suresh Raina announced his retirement from international cricket on 15th August. The southpaw joined his friend and teammate MS Dhoni to announce the news on Instagram.
“It was nothing but lovely playing with you, @mahi7781 . With my heart full of pride, I choose to join you in this journey. Thank you India. Jai Hind!” said Raina’s post, with the photo with his Indian teammates from CSK.
Raina’s announcement came less than an hour after MS Dhoni announced his retirement, surprising the entire cricket world. The duo is known for their friendship on and off the field with the Indian side and Chennai Super Kings. So it is only fitting that they left the grand stage together.
Like MS, Raina’s post did not mention the formats he is retiring from. But the duo is expected to be a part of IPL 2020 with preparations already underway.
Raina was part of the World Cup-winning squad in 2011 where he played crucial knocks against Australia and Pakistan in quarter-final and semi-final respectively.
13 Years at the Highest Level:
Part of the 2004 U-19 World Cup, Raina made his international debut against Sri Lanka in July 2005. He went on to play at the highest level for 13 years. Raina has played 226 ODIs, scoring 5615 runs at an average of 35.31.
The southpaw was known for his command on the shortest format of the game. His IPL performances have even earned him the nickname Mr IPL. At the international level, Raina has played 78 T20Is, scoring 1605 runs at the striker rate of 134.87.
Raina made his test debut exactly 5 years after his international debut, against the same opposition. The batsman went on to score a century on his debut but his overall red-ball career was short-lived. In 18 test matches, Raina scored 768 runs at an average of 26.48. But he holds a unique record of being the first Indian to score a century in all three formats.
With his weakness against the short ball well known to the world, Raina has been in and out of the side for the last few years. His last international game came in 2018, against England at the Leeds.
Raina raised the bar for fielding in the Indian side with his athleticism in the field. The part-time off-break bowler also has 62 wickets to his name in all three formats.
Raina is currently with the CSK squad in Chennai for the training camp and is expected to play a crucial role in the side’s IPL campaign once again.
