Indian cricketer Suresh Raina on Tuesday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, which means he will no longer participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The left-hander had called curtains on his international career in 2020 on the same day his friend MS Dhoni also announced his retirement.
Raina’s decision is prompted by the fact that he went unsold earlier this year in the mega-IPL auction. Even Chennai Super Kings, a franchise for which he scored 4,687 runs in the IPL, did not bid for him.
The southpaw took to Twitter to announce his decision. “It has been an absolute honour to represent my country and state UP. I would like to announce my retirement from all formats of cricket,” he tweeted.
https://twitter.com/ImRaina/status/1567041995608309761?s=20&t=2p4Oa_wUFXugMBxKXVGxpA
The former Indian batsman also stated he will participate in the Road Safety World Series, which is starting from September 10. He has been training at the RPL cricket ground in Ghaziabad for the last one year to prepare for the tournament.
“I will play in the Road Safety Series. T20 franchises from South Africa, Sri Lanka and the UAE have contacted me but I am yet to take a decision. I have informed BCCI secretary Jay Shah and vice-president Rajiv Shukla about my decision,” said Raina, who cracked 5,528 runs in 205 IPL matches.
https://twitter.com/ImRaina/status/1566761004897546240?s=20&t=OrIXobg8mkwRuxO08YSwow
Though he scored a century on his Test debut, Raina was known for his exhilarating exploits in limited-overs. He thumped 5,615 runs from 226 ODIs and 1,605 from 78 T20Is for India. The 35-year-old was also a part of the Indian team which won the 50-over World Cup in 2011. In the quarter-final against Australia and semi-final against Pakistan, his innings were instrumental in India coming up trumps.
Despite lingering doubts about his ability to negotiate bouncers, the attractive batter was the first Indian to blast hundreds in all three formats.