Raina retired with an average of 25 in Tests, 35 in ODIs and nearly 30 in the shortest format of the game.
Rahul Dravid Hails Suresh Raina As 'Team Man' And Terrific Batsman
By Samrat Singh
Updated - 19 Aug 2020, 03:19 PM
Former India captain Rahul Dravid hailed Suresh Raina for his contribution to the game in a video shared by BCCI on their Twitter handle. Minutes after MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket, out-of-favour India batsman Suresh Raina also called time on his career. Raina will however continue to be an integral part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise.
Dravid who had shared the dressing room with Raina said that he was a young and exiting talents who came through the system in the middle of 2000s. The NCA head who overlooks the progress in the U-19 team and India A also mentioned that Raina was a skillful batsman and a complete team man.
“Playing U-19 cricket and doing very well. You could see even at that time that Suresh was going to be a very, very important player for India. And that is really how it played out in the last decade and a half,” Dravid added.
“A lot of the success that India has had in white-ball cricket; a lot of the great memories… Suresh has been a part of them. I think his contribution to Indian cricket, especially in the white-ball game, has been fantastic. He is World Cup winner, he is a Champions Trophy winner and just the fact that he contributed so much on the field… just the energy and the enthusiasm he brought, the way he raised the standard of the fielding,” Dravid said.
“One thing you always felt Suresh did was do all the difficult things. Batting lower down the order when honestly his numbers could have been a lot better if he had batted higher up the order and that has been shown out in the success he has had for CSK in the IPL where he bats at No 3 and has an absolutely phenomenal record.
“He is one of the phenomenal players of the IPL over the last decade or so. But for India, for the most part, he batted lower down the order, fielded at the difficult positions, bowled some very handy overs and always brought a lot to the team. Someone, who I would think of as a terrific team-man who always gave his best and brought some great energy to the game and was a very, very skillful batter. Indeed, it is never easy to be part of a successful team. Each player has to do his part and Raina always found a way to make a contribution,” he added.
MUST WATCH – As @ImRaina walks into the sunset, here's a heartfelt tribute from the legendary Rahul Dravid, who presented the left-hander with his most prized possessions – the ODI and Test cap.#RainaRetires pic.twitter.com/xqPnmAYatj
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 18, 2020
Raina had been far from contention to play for the Indian cricket team. He made his last international appearance in 2018 during India’s tour of England and since then has been out-of-favour of the side.
Raina batted at No.3 Or the fourth spot in his career which now belongs to Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in the recent scheme of things as far as the limited-overs is concerned. Thus he had no chance for a comeback.
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BCCI India Rahul Dravid Suresh Raina
