On Monday, the BCCI confirmed that Suresh Raina has communicated his retirement decision to the board a day after he made it public. However, the board took to social media lauded the former India all-rounder for being a key player in the limited-overs format. Minutes after MS Dhoni decided to announce his international retirement on August 15, 33-year-old Raina followed the footsteps of his mentor in doing the same.
In a statement regarding the same, BCCI wrote: “Attacking left-hand batsman Suresh Raina officially communicated to BCCI on Sunday about his decision to retire from international cricket. “Under his captaincy, India registered a 3-2 series victory in West Indies and a 2-0 win over Bangladesh in ODIs and a 2-0 T20 International series win in Zimbabwe.” The usual norm is players informing the BCCI before announcing retirement.
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A world-class fielder and a useful bowler, Raina represented India in 18 Tests, 226 ODIs, and 78 T20Is in an international career spanning 13 years. A member of the victorious World Cup-winning team in 2011, Raina made his debut in international cricket at the age of 18 and also led India in ODIs and T2OIs when he turned 23.
9⃣ fours and 1️⃣ six 💪
📽️ Throwback to that match-winning innings from Suresh Raina against Australia from 2010. 🙌
Which is your favourite @ImRaina knock?#RainaRetires
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 17, 2020
Raina is also one of the very few batsmen to score a century on his Test debut and he also became the first Indian to score centuries in all three formats of the game and his centuries were scored outside India.
With his mentor MS Dhoni, he formed a lethal batting partnership. Together they scored 2421 runs for the fifth wicket, the most by a pair in ODIs for that wicket.
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BCCI president Sourav Ganguly reckons that Suresh Raina was one of the most crucial players for Team India in limited-overs cricketer. He said, “Suresh Raina has been one of the key performers in limited-overs cricket for India. Coming lower down the order and playing some of the match-winning knocks requires a lot of skill and talent.”
