It was not too long back when the 'International Left Handers Day' was celebrated and world cricket relieved, celebrated and rejoiced some nostalgic memories of some of the finest southpaws who produced some monumental performances with the willow and cartwheeled quite a few stumps with their skill and pedigree.
Within less than an hour former India captain MS Dhoni decided to hang up his boots, Suresh Raina also took to social media to announce retirement from international cricket.
ALSO READ | Suresh Raina Follows MS Dhoni, Announces Retirement From International Cricket
Limited overs cricket over the past 3-odd decades was treated to the modern day ODI greats like Brian Lara, Adam Gilchrist, Wasim Akram, Micheal Bevan and Kumar Sangakkara entertaining world cricket with their cricketing exploits.
ODI cricket in India, which has predominantly been ruled by right handed legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni had their share of left handed cricketers who stood tall among their right handed contemporaries with their match winning performances.
If one were to go back memory lane, Indian cricket also had some of the very best left handed batsmen to have graced world cricket with the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Vinod Kambli proving their mettle at the very pinnacle of white ball cricket. Amidst the list of stalwarts, one name which often does not receive the same merit or recognition is one of India's unsung heroes Suresh Raina.
Suresh Raina was an important cog in a highly successful limited overs Indian team under the aegis of Mahendra Singh Dhoni which went onto win both the ICC 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ICC 50-over World Cup.
In a team full of stalwarts from Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag , Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, the multi-dimensional Raina held his own fort as a hard hitting middle order batsman who was a dangerous customer coming out to bat at No 5 or 6. On his day, Raina could tonk the best of attacks with sheer disdain, often providing a spectacle of power packed hitting.
Raina was a brutal assaulter with his explosive shot making and lofty ball striking .. He stitched numerous partnerships with both Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to chase down some herculean targets and win India many thrilling encounters in ODI cricket. Raina used his nimble footwork to good effect against spinners and it was one of most eye pleasing sights to watch Raina step down and heave those towering sixes over mid wicket..
Apart from his belligerent batting, Raina was a very handy off spinner who added depth to the Indian spin bowling armoury. With Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin as India's frontline wicket-taking spinners under Dhoni's captaincy, Raina along with Yuvraj and Sehwag did a good job in chipping in with timely wickets and contributing meaningfully with the ball.
An extremely fit cricketer, Raina would also go down as arguably India's best all-rounder fielders of all time. Raina's spell-bounding agility and sheer athleticism saw him pull off some spectacular catches and effect breathtaking run outs.. Along with Yuvraj Singh, Raina was considered the best Indian fielder especially inside the 30-yard circle...Be it at covers, point or even slips, Raina plucked off some stunning catches out of thin air to change the course of a game...
Another notable aspect of Suresh Raina was him spearheading the revival Uttar Pradesh cricket's dwindling fortunes in the domestic fold. Raina along with the likes of Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla and Bhuvneshwar Kumar made UP cricket a force to reckon and a notable presence in the Indian team.
Raina's sheer belligerence with the willow and his aggressive intent in batting was tailor made to the rapidly paced T20 cricket.The pugnacious stroke-maker took the format like a duck takes to water becoming a pivotal part of a power packed Dhoni-led T20 team, which also won the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup.
In all honesty, the ODI bully did not find his moolah in Test ball cricket as technical deficiencies to play the short pitch delivery proved to be his nemesis in the purist form of the ball.
A decade long career at the very top in ODI cricket saw the left handed batsman rack up 5615 runs for India in 226 ODIs at a healthy average of 35.31. He registered 5 tons and also notched up 36 half tons.
The white ball specialist also played 18 Tests for India where he scored 768 runs with one ton and 7 fifties. Raina was at his lethal best in the T20Is where he scored 1605 runs with one ton and 5 half tons.
Suresh Raina did enough in his decade long cricket career to go down as one of Indian cricket's most versatile cricketers in the limited overs format.
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