Suresh Raina
About
Suresh Raina, an aggressive left-handed middle-order batsman and an occasional off-spin bowler, is the third batsman in the world and first in India to hit a T20I century.
He rose to become the captain of the Uttar Pradesh U-16s & came to prominence amongst Indian selectors in 2002 when he was selected at the age of 15 & a half years for the U-19 tour to England.
Suresh was regarded as one of the ‘Best Fielders’ in the world by BCCI
In 2013, he became the 13th Indian batsman to cross 4000 One-Day International (ODI) runs and was featured in the ICC Top 10 Ranked Batsmen List.
He has played in 226 ODIs, scoring a total of 5615 runs with 5 centuries and 36 half-centuries to his credit in this format of the game.
His most successful year in ODI cricket was 2008, where he scored 680 runs in 18 innings at an average of 45.33 and a strike-rate above 100.
One of the highest run-getters in the history of IPL, he replaced Dhoni as the Captain of Chennai Super Kings(CSK) for the season in 2012.
Also the former Captain of the Gujarat Lions (2016-2017), he played for Uttar Pradesh in all forms of domestic cricket.
He is the second player after Chris Gayle & first Indian player to hit 100 sixes in the IPL & in 2019.
In 2021, his book Believe: What Life and Cricket Taught Me was published which discusses the challenges he faced as a young cricketer.
In 2022, he signed a contract with the Road Safety World Series league and played for the Indian Legends team.
On 6 September 2022, he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, including IPL and domestic cricket.
Suresh started the ‘Gracia Raina foundation’ after her daughter’s name, which works closely with underprivileged mothers and children, in dealing with health issues.
Awards and Accomplishments
Awards and Accomplishments
- First Indian Cricketer to score a century in all three formats (Tests, ODIs, T20s).
- He is the second-youngest player ever to captain India.
- He became the first batsman to score 5000 runs in the IPL.
- Suresh is the first player to have scored over 400+ runs in 7 consecutive IPL seasons.
- He is the first Indian and second in the world to hit 100 sixes in the IPL.
- He holds the record for the most runs scored in the powerplay in an IPL match.
- He holds the record for scoring the most fifties in Champions League T20 history.
- Third batsman in the world to score a century in T20 International.
Why Suresh Raina ?
With an international debut at the age of 19, Suresh Raina has acquired many records and played an integral role in team India’s victorious conquest of the World Cup in 2011. He is a left-handed middle-order batsman and the second youngest player to captain India. He is an efficient add with his off-spin bowling and a big asset in the field who has dominated the cricket pitch rigorously. Suresh Raina, who is usually calm and graceful but aggressive on the field, has been one of the mainstays of the Indian Cricket Team.
