Suresh Raina: From IPL top gun to no show

He was the mainstay of India’s batting order and a key player for Chennai Super Kings.

Raina has been with Chennai Super Kings since the inception of the team in 2008. He was a regular in the squad except for a short two-year stint with the Gujarat Lions in 2016-17 during their suspension.

He also withdrew from the 2020 Indian Premier League citing personal reasons, and returned to India after flying to the UAE to participate in the tournament.

First player to score 5000

Raina became the first player in the history of the Indian Premier League to score 5000 runs in a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on March 23, 2019.

He is currently the fourth-highest scorer in IPL history, scoring 5528 runs in 205 matches with an average of 32.5 and a strike rate of 136.7.

Raina was a part of the Chennai Super Kings squad in all four of their title wins in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021. He also led the team in six matches in absence of MS Dhoni.

Raina is the first batsman to hit a century in all three formats. He was a regular in the international Indian squad until 2015 and occasionally led the team in the absence of MS Dhoni.

The left-handed batsman gave an impressive performance scoring 284 runs in six innings, that included one century and two half-centuries during the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

He was popularly known as Mr. IPL and Chinna Thala by his fans.

During the South Africa Tour of India post the 2015 World Cup, he found himself in the middle of a dip in form and was only able to score 65 runs in 5 innings.

After the disastrous performance, Raina found himself at a loss of opportunities, only being a part of the playing XI for two ODI matches between 2016 - 2019.

He was replaced by Shreyas Iyer and Kedar Jhadav, who were giving terrific performances consistently for the fourth batting position.

Suresh Raina shared great camaraderie with the former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

He announced his retirement from all three formats of the game on August 15, 2020, just minutes after MS Dhoni announced his retirement.

After he retired from international cricket, he went inactive in the domestic circuit and only played for two months every year during the Indian Premier League. His inactivity led to a lack of fitness and preparation for the tournament.

Raina took part in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League but failed to give an impressive performance, scoring just 160 runs in 12 innings with his all-time low average of 17.77. Subsequently, he went unsold in the 2022 IPL auction.

He failed to attract any interest from the franchisees in the mega auction despite being one of the most accomplished performers in IPL.

He is undoubtedly a legend and well-respected player, one of the top performers of the tournament in every edition of Indian Premier League.