I’m Sure You Will Continue To Inspire Us , Says Suresh Raina As He Pays Tribute To RP Singh

Suresh Raina wished luck to his former India and Uttar Pradesh teammate RP Singh who brought down curtains on his cricket career on Tuesday (September 4).

RP Singh earned his maiden India call-up 13 years ago after impressing in the Under-19 World Cup of 2004. Eight wickets at 24.75 apiece was enough for him to catch the flight with the national team for the tour of Zimbabwe. He made his debut in Harare and made an instant impact by picking up a couple of wickets.

A career that was marred by injury and prolonged loss in form, it also contained some beautiful moments. The finest moment of his career came when he played an instrumental role in India’s historic triumph in the inaugural World T20 in 2007.

In the same year, he made his test debut in Pakistan. It was however the tour of England later that year that he justified the faith shown in him. He managed his first 5-wicket haul at the Lord’s and helped the team register a historic series win. It was India’s first Test series win in England in 21 years. In the very next year, his six-wicket match haul helped India beat Australia at Perth.

But soon, loss of form and injury saw him losing his regular place in the team. He played his last ODI in 2011.

Overall, he represented India in 14 Tests, 58 ODIs and 10 T20Is, picking 40, 69 and 15 wickets respectively.

He also enjoyed a successful career at the domestic level.  RP Singh played 94 first-class games and 136 List A games, picking 301 and 190 wickets respectively.

Tributes have been pouring in since he announced his retirement and Suresh Raina also did his bit. The southpaw took to Twitter to recall all the memories of spending time with RP Singh in the field and also wished him luck, writing:

“Wishing you all the success ahead my friend @rpsingh! Glad I have been a part of your journey & played many matches together where we shared the moments of highs & lows, joy & success! Here is to a new start and I’m sure you will continue to inspire us in many ways as always!”

Wishing you all the success ahead my friend @rpsingh! Glad I have been a part of your journey & played many matches together where we shared the moments of highs & lows, joy & success! Here is to a new start and I’m sure you will continue to inspire us in many ways as always! https://t.co/kQ0BvgEQSA

— Suresh Raina?? (@ImRaina) September 5, 2018