Suresh Raina follows Dhoni out, uses Instagram to announce retirement

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, August 15

All-rounder Suresh Raina followed the footsteps of MS Dhoni as he announced to hang his boots soon after the former India captain brought down the curtains on his illustrious career spanning over a decade and a half, on Saturday.

Considered one of the finest players in the shorter format, if not the greatest, Raina like his skipper took to Instagram to bid adieu to the game.  

The left-handed batsman, who made his international debut against Sri Lanka in 2005 under the leadership of Rahul Dravid, shared a photo with his former teammates, including MS Dhoni, on Instagram with a post that read: “It was nothing but lovely playing with you, @mahi7781. With my heart full of pride, I choose to join you in this journey. Thank you India. Jai Hind”.

READ HERE MS Dhoni calls it a day 

However, it’s still unclear whether Raina's decision would be limited to international cricket only, or will he also quit the Indian Premier League and the First-Class cricket. 

Raina last featured in an ODI game against England in July 2018 and had since been overlooked by the selectors though he continued to be a regular in the  Chennai Super Kings team under the stewardship Dhoni, who has always shown great faith in the 33-year-old’s capabilities as a cricketer.

The flamboyant cricketer from Uttar Pradesh amassed 5,615 runs in 226 ODIs at a decent average of 35.31, while he made 1,190 runs in 78 T20I appearances.

He is also one of the few batsmen to have made a century in all the three formats of the game though his Test career could not take flight and was restricted 18 matches only.

After impressing everyone with a century on Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2010, Raina failed to live up to the promise in the longer format and played his last Test in January 2015.

Apart from being a live wire on the field, Raina had also the knack of picking wickets. He has 62 international wickets to his credit across formats.