The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly reckons that Suresh Raina was one of the most crucial players for Team India in limited-overs cricketer as the southpaw decided to call it quits on his international career. Raina had announced his retirement from international cricket on Saturday, just minutes after MS Dhoni decided to announced retirement from international cricket.
The BCCI also confirmed that Raina conveyed his decision to retire to the board on Sunday. In a press release from BCCI, Sourav Ganguly 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. He along with Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni formed a solid middle order for India in ODIs. I wish him and his family all the very best.”
Jay Shah, the secretary of the BCCI congratulated Raina on a remarkable career and term the veteran southpaw as the finest cricketers in T20s.
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BCCI secretary said, “Suresh Raina has been arguably one of the finest T20 batsmen. A live wire on the field, Raina’s prowess as a left-handed batsman was exhibited throughout his cricketing career. A big match player, Raina’s cameo against Australia in the quarterfinal in the 2011 World Cup was a testimony to his glittering career that followed. I wish him all the very best in the second innings of his career.”
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.
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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Both Raina and Dhoni will now be seen back on the field for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), set to begin from September 19 in the UAE.
