A few minutes after former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement on August 15, his former teammate and best buddy Suresh Raina followed his footsteps and bid goodbye to international cricket. Cricket fanatics and fraternity were saddened to know that two legends of Indian cricket team have stepped down from their international cricketing career after giving them so many splendorous moments to cherish.
However, Suresh Raina conveyed his retirement decision to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) a day after publically announcing the same. The cricket governing body in India made this public on Monday, lauding the 33-year old all-rounder for being a crucial player in the limited-overs format.
In its statement, BCCI said, “Attacking left-hand batsman Suresh Raina officially communicated to BCCI on Sunday about his decision to retire from international cricket.” The usual norm suggests that the player seeking retirement must inform the Board before announcing it.
For the unversed, Suresh Raina played 18 Tests, 226 ODIs, and 78 T20Is for India in a career spanning 13 years. The left-hander batsman also had the honour of being the captain for a brief amount of time.
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For the unversed, India registered a 3-2 series win in West Indies and a 2-0 victory over Bangladesh in ODIs and a T20I series win against Zimbabwe.
Raina is also the first Indian to slam hundreds in all three formats of the game that too in matches played away from home. He also scored a ton on debut in Test cricket.
The 33-year old all-rounder was indeed one of the best fielders in the Indian team and also a handy bowler.
Suresh Raina will be playing with CSK in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).