Suresh Raina was born on 27th November 1986. He hails from Ghaziabad and is also the youngest person in his family.
- How did it begin for Suresh Raina?
At the age of 10, Raina decided that he wanted to pursue cricket professionally but like any other kid saying this was very easy. In 1999-00 he joined a Sports College in Lucknow.
- Journey
After captaining the U-16 UP side, Raina was selected for the U-19 side. He even made his U-19 debut in 2002 when he was just 16 years old. The U-19 team toured to England and Suresh Raina scored 2 half-centuries in the series.
2004, Raina made it to the U-19 World Cup squad.
Seeing his performances in the U-19 World Cup, he was awarded the Border Gavaskar Scholarship and he took admission in the Australian Cricket Academy.
After returning from ACA, he made first-class limited overs debut. That season was a prolific one as he scored 645 runs at an average of 53.75.
3. Disastrous Debut and India Road from thereon
2005. India was struggling at 64/4 when Suresh Raina walks into the middle. It was an unpleasant outing for the young man who was outdone on the first ball of his career. Suresh Raina departs on a golden duck, on debut.
Post that Raina did play handy knocks but his consistency was always letting him down. Eventually, he was dropped from the ODI side and did not make into the WC squad of 2007.
4. 2008, Asia Cup and Beginning of the IPL
It was the Asia Cup in 2008 where he gained back his spot and scored his maiden ODI hundred against Hong Kong. He had a phenomenal Asia Cup in 2008 scoring 372 in 6 innings at an average of 74.40. He announced his return at the international arena.
The beginning of IPL unlocked a new dimension of Suresh Raina”s cricketing skills. He has been extremely phenomenal in the IPL which gave him the title of Mr IPL. In Chennai, Raina is also known as Chinna Thala.
His consistent performances in the IPL shut his critics. In 2010 after another great IPL season Raina became the first Indian to score a 100 in T20I cricket.
- Raina in test cricket
His great white ball performances soon saw a make his test debut. Unlike his ODI debut, he managed to score a ton on the Test debut and became only the 12th Indian to do so.
That knock also meant that Raina became the first Indian to score a century in all three formats of the game.
But after that innings, he was again hit by a patch of inconsistent innings which saw him getting axed from the test side.
- 2011 WC
Raina made it to the 2011 World Cup squad. Initially, he did not start the tournament but eventually team India saw him as a regular number 7.
Raina”s contribution always made sure that Team India had enough runs on the board. He also bowled off spin which came in pretty handy in the WC.
Apart from being an exclusive all-rounder, Raina was a livewire on the field. His mere presence was enough
Raina has been a part of some moments you never forget
- 2011 WC winner
- 2013 team that won the ICC CT
- 2014 T20 World Cup team that reached the final
- 2015 WC team, SF 100 against Zim in the group stage
- 2016 T20 WC team
Raina’s success in the IPL and domestic circuit is certain ten-fold than that in International cricket. Having being the second highest run scorer in the league and being a bank of runs for the CSK, year after year, raina has certainly proved his worth in this format of the game.
Suresh Raina is a vital cog in the not only on the field but also off the field. Here was raina’s journey as a cricketer.
