Suresh Raina was the first Indian to score an international hundred in all three formats, a left-handed middle-order batter who did much of his best work in the shortest game. He was part of the side that won the 2011 World Cup, the first player to reach 5,000 runs in the Indian Premier League, and for years one of the sharpest fielders India had.
Name: Suresh Kumar Raina | Born: 27 November 1986, Muradnagar, Uttar Pradesh | Sport: Cricket | Position: Left-handed middle-order batter, right-arm off-spinner
From Muradnagar to the Uttar Pradesh side
Raina grew up in Muradnagar, a town near Ghaziabad, and moved to Lucknow as a boy to train more seriously. He was picked for Uttar Pradesh in the 2002-03 season while still a teenager and stayed with the state for almost two decades, later captaining them in the Ranji Trophy. He batted with a high backlift, liked to go after spin and could clear the boundary down the ground with little apparent effort. He also bowled useful off-spin, flat and quick through the air, which made him a handy sixth option in limited-overs cricket.
An early start in one-day cricket
He made his one-day international debut against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on 30 July 2005, aged 18. The early years were uneven, and he moved in and out of the side while he worked on his game against the short ball. His first ODI hundred came against Hong Kong at the 2008 Asia Cup in Karachi, when he made 101. By then he had found a regular place in the middle order, often batting at five or six and asked either to rebuild or to accelerate depending on how the innings had gone.
A hundred in every format
The 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies gave Raina the innings that people still bring up first. Against South Africa at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia on 2 May he scored 101, the first T20 international hundred by an Indian and the first by an Indian at a World T20. Less than three months later he was given his Test debut against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo and made 120 in the first innings. That completed a set no Indian had managed before: a hundred in Tests, one-day internationals and T20 internationals.
His Test career never matched that start. He played 18 Tests, scoring 768 runs at 26.48, and the short-pitched bowling he faced in England and elsewhere exposed a weakness that opponents were happy to target. In white-ball cricket he remained a fixture for most of a decade.
The 2011 World Cup
Raina did not play every match of the 2011 World Cup, but he was brought in for the knockout games and made each innings count. In the quarter-final against Australia in Ahmedabad he walked out with India 187 for five, chasing 261, and added an unbeaten partnership with Yuvraj Singh to see the side home; his share was 34 not out from 28 balls. In the semi-final against Pakistan at Mohali he made 36 not out batting with the tail, helping India reach 260, a total that proved enough. India went on to beat Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai.
Leading India and Gujarat
He was Gautam Gambhir’s deputy for the 2011 one-day series in the West Indies and took charge of the side when Gambhir was ruled out. In 2014 he led India to a 2-0 series win in Bangladesh. In the IPL he captained Gujarat Lions in 2016, the year the new franchise topped the league table, though most of his franchise career was spent elsewhere.
Chennai’s Mr IPL
Raina played for Chennai Super Kings from the first season in 2008 until 2015 and again from 2018 to 2021, with Gujarat Lions filling the two seasons when Chennai were suspended. He was a consistent run-scorer at number three, and his half-century in the 2010 final against Mumbai Indians helped Chennai to their first title. On 23 March 2019, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he became the first batter to reach 5,000 IPL runs, and in 2021 he became the fourth player to appear in 200 IPL matches. His consistency over so many seasons earned him the nickname Mr IPL among supporters.
Fielding and retirement
Raina was among the best fielders India produced in his era. He was quick across the ground in the covers and at point and held sharp catches close in, and Jonty Rhodes once named him the best fielder in the world. He announced his retirement from international cricket on 15 August 2020, minutes after his friend and long-time captain MS Dhoni did the same. He gave up all forms of the game, including the IPL and domestic cricket, on 6 September 2022.
Career record and honours
- Tests: 18 matches, 768 runs, average 26.48, 1 hundred, 7 fifties, highest score 120; 13 wickets
- One-day internationals: 226 matches, 5,615 runs, average 35.31, 5 hundreds, 36 fifties, highest score 116 not out; 36 wickets
- T20 internationals: 78 matches, 1,605 runs, average 29.18, 1 hundred, 5 fifties, highest score 101; 13 wickets
- First Indian to score an international hundred in all three formats (Test 120 on debut v Sri Lanka, Colombo, 2010)
- First Indian to score a T20 international hundred: 101 v South Africa, St Lucia, 2010 World T20
- 2011 World Cup winner
- First batter to reach 5,000 IPL runs (2019)
- IPL champion with Chennai Super Kings, including the 2010 title
- Played domestic cricket for Uttar Pradesh from 2002-03 to 2020-21
