Cricket legend Suresh Raina has announced his retirement.

Cricket legend Suresh Raina has announced his retirement.

Cricket legend Suresh Raina has announced his retirement. Suresh Raina, who used to bat for India and Uttar Pradesh, has said that he is done with “all formats of cricket.” This means that his IPL and India domestic careers are over. Raina, who was 35 at the time, had already quit international cricket. He told the world this on August 15, 2020, not long after MS Dhoni had done the same. Now he has retired from all the other formats. 

Raina’s Statement

“It has been an absolute honour to represent my country & state UP. I would like to announce my retirement from all formats of cricket,” Raina posted on Twitter on Tuesday.

The decision will allow Raina to play tournaments like the Road Safety Series, for which he has already been confirmed, as well as overseas T20 leagues. “I want to continue playing cricket for two or three years,” he was quoted as saying by Dainik Jagran. “There are some exciting youngsters who are coming through the ranks of Uttar Pradesh cricket. I have already taken my No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA). I have informed BCCI secretary Jay Shah and vice-president Rajiv Shukla about my decision.”

“I will play in the Road Safety Series. T20 franchises from South Africa, Sri Lanka and UAE have contacted me but I am yet to take any decision.”

Raina’s Career

Since 2018, Raina had not appeared in a first-class or list A cricket match. His last IPL appearance was in October of 2021. The Chennai Super Kings relied heavily on Raina. He was a part of the group for a total of eleven years, from 2008 to 2021. Together with CSK, he won four world championships between 2010 and 2021. With 4687 runs in 176 games, he is still their leading scorer. Before the 2022 player auction, Chennai Super Kings released him, and none of the ten teams bid on him.

Upon retirement, Raina will have accumulated a total of 8654 runs in 336 T20 games, 8078 runs in 302 list A games, and 6871 runs in 109 first-class games. The 2002–03 season marked his professional debut with UP, and the 2005 season marked his debut on the international stage. Raina represented India in a total of 226 ODIs, 78 T20Is, and 18 Tests throughout his career. He played a key role in the 2011 ODI World Cup winning team. He achieved the feat of 100 in all three international forms, becoming the first Indian hitter to do so.