Suresh Raina
Former Indian captain and the present BCCI president Sourav Ganguly praised recently-retired Suresh Raina for being a key and consistent member of India's limited-overs set up over the course of his career and hailed the crucial knocks that he carved whilst batting lower down the order.
Raina announced his international retirement from the sport on Saturday minutes after his former teammate and Indian captain MS Dhoni did the same. He later communicated with the BCCI on Sunday regarding the same.
"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,” said Ganguly.
Raina scored 5,615 runs in 226 ODI matches, which included five centuries and 1,605 runs, and one century in 78 T20s. He was the first indian player to score a century in T20 cricket and the first from the country to score a century in all three formats of the game.
Though he scored a hundred on Test debut, Raina managed to play only 18 games in the longest format and scored 768 runs. His century on debut was also his only ton in the longest format of the game.
Renowned for his agility in the field, Raina was part of the Indian teams that won the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy, both under the captaincy of Dhoni.
Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary, BCCI: “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.
Arun Singh Dhumal, Honorary Treasurer, BCCI: I would like to congratulate Suresh Raina on the phenomenal career that he had for Team India. An exceptional fielder and a match-winner, Raina was a treat watch in white-ball cricket. Your energy and skills will be missed. I wish you all the luck in your future endeavours.”
(with IANS inputs)
