New Delhi: India’s left-handed middle-order batsman Suresh Raina on Thursday completed a decade in international cricket. At the age of 20, he made his international debut on July 30, 2005 against Sri Lanka in Dambulla in one-day international cricket.
Speaking on completing a decade in international cricket Raina said, “It has been a really exciting journey for me completing a decade in international cricket. I would like to thank my family, BCCI, selectors, teammates, friends and fans for making this unbelievable journey incredible. I am happy the way I have paced my career so far and I will continue to give my best to bring all the laurels to the country.”
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The 28-year-old middle order batsman had a forgettable international debut a decade ago when he was lbw for a duck in his maiden ODI. Batting at number 6, Raina got lbw off the very first ball he played but since then he has never looked back and has played some excellent match winning knocks for India and is seen as one of the best finishers in 50-over and 20-over cricket.
Till date he has played 218 one-day international matches in which he scored 5500 runs including 5 centuries and 35 half-centuries with a strike rate of 93.80.
Blessed to have completed a decade in international cricket. Thanks for making this unbelievable journey incredible.
— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) July 29, 2015Read: End of road for Jadeja and Raina?
Raina is the only Indian batsman to score a century in all three formats of cricket T20, ODI and Test. He was the part of ICC World Cup 2011 winning Indian team and later he also represented the country in ICC World Cup held in Australia earlier this year. In the two World Cups played, he scored 358 runs including one century and two half-centuries with a strike rate of 107.50.
In 2011, Raina got an opportunity to lead the team in West Indies and under his captaincy team performed well winning ODI series 3-2. He was the second youngest captain of the Indian Cricket team and his captaincy was highly appreciated by former West Indies legends. In 2014, he was again declared captain and led the team to a 2-0 victory against Bangladesh. Raina has also featured in 18 Tests and 44 T20 matches.
