Suresh Raina was India's first centurion in all three international formats
Suresh Raina, a hard-hitting left-hander, became the first Indian to make hundreds in Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals, and the first to reach 5,000 runs in the Indian Premier League. Jonty Rhodes rated him the best fielder in his top fielders list.
Raina's birthplace, on 27 November 1986, was Muradnagar in Uttar Pradesh, where his family had settled after leaving Kashmir during the 1990s exodus of Kashmiri Hindus. He moved to a Lucknow sports college in 1998, and at fifteen and a half was picked for an under-19 tour of England. At the 2004 Under-19 World Cup he hammered 90 from 38 balls, earning a scholarship to the Australian Cricket Academy. He made his one-day debut for India against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on 30 July 2005.
Limited-overs cricket suited him best. Across 226 ODIs he scored 5,615 runs at 35.3 with a strike rate of 93.5, and in 78 T20 internationals he added 1,605 runs, while taking 36 and 13 wickets respectively with part-time off-spin. In 2010 he became the first Indian to score a T20 World Cup century, against South Africa. During India's 2011 World Cup win he made crucial unbeaten runs in the quarter-final against Australia and the semi-final against Pakistan. Tests were tougher: 18 matches at an average of 26.48, and in England in 2011 short-pitched bowling troubled him, and in the final Test he survived 29 deliveries without scoring, India's longest Test duck.
In the IPL he was a Chennai mainstay. His half-century in the 2010 final helped beat Mumbai, and in 2014 he smashed 87 off 25 balls against Kings XI Punjab before being run out. He captained Gujarat Lions in 2016 while Chennai were suspended, and in 2021 became only the fourth man to play 200 IPL matches. He pulled out of the 2020 season after his uncle was killed in a robbery at the family home in Punjab.
He quit international cricket on 15 August 2020, minutes after MS Dhoni, and retired from all cricket on 6 September 2022 after going unsold at auction, turning to commentary and legends leagues. Since 2023 he has run an Indian restaurant in Bos en Lommer, in the Netherlands.
Source: Suresh Raina
