Suresh Kumar Raina is a former Indian international cricketer who played all three formats of the game for India. A left-handed middle-order batsman and a part-time off-spin bowler, he is regarded as one of the most agile fielders India has produced, particularly in the point and cover region. Raina spent the bulk of his domestic and franchise career with Uttar Pradesh and the Chennai Super Kings, with whom he became one of the most successful batsmen in the history of the Indian Premier League.
| Full name | Suresh Kumar Raina |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 November 1986, Muradnagar, Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh |
| Batting | Left-handed |
| Bowling | Right-arm off-break |
| Role | Middle-order batsman, occasional bowler, fielder |
| Domestic team | Uttar Pradesh |
| IPL team | Chennai Super Kings (also Gujarat Lions, 2016–2017) |
| ODI debut | 30 July 2005, vs Sri Lanka, Dambulla |
| Test debut | 26 July 2010, vs Sri Lanka, Colombo (SSC) |
| T20I debut | 1 December 2006, vs South Africa, Johannesburg |
| International retirement | 15 August 2020 |
| Honours | ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 winner; ICC Champions Trophy 2013 winner |
Raina was born into a Kashmiri Pandit family that had migrated from the Kashmir Valley. His father, Trilok Chand Raina, served in the Ordnance Factory at Muradnagar. He attended the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow, a residential sports school under the Uttar Pradesh government, where he developed his cricket from his early teens. He represented Uttar Pradesh at the under-16 and under-19 levels and was part of the India Under-19 squad for the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh.
Raina made his first-class debut for Uttar Pradesh in the 2005–06 Ranji Trophy season. He went on to serve as captain of Uttar Pradesh in domestic competitions and represented Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy. He also played for India A and the India Emerging Players side on tours and in development tournaments.
Raina made his One Day International debut against Sri Lanka in Dambulla in July 2005 at the age of 18. He established himself as a finisher in the middle order through the late 2000s. In the 2010 Asia Cup he scored his maiden ODI century against Sri Lanka. He was a member of the Indian squad that won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, hosted jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, where he played key innings in the knockout stage, including against Australia in the quarter-final and Pakistan in the semi-final.
He was also part of the squad that won the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England under M. S. Dhoni. Raina is among the few Indian batsmen to have scored a century in each of the three international formats.
He made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo in July 2010 and scored a century in his first innings, becoming the first Indian batsman to score a hundred on Test debut at number six. He played 18 Tests for India between 2010 and 2015.
Raina made his T20I debut in December 2006 in South Africa. In the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies, he scored a century against South Africa in St Lucia, becoming the first Indian to score a hundred in a T20 International. He represented India in multiple ICC World Twenty20 editions including 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.
Raina was signed by the Chennai Super Kings ahead of the inaugural 2008 IPL season and remained associated with the franchise for the bulk of his T20 league career. He served as vice-captain to M. S. Dhoni and led the side in matches when Dhoni was unavailable. He was the first batsman to reach 4,000 and later 5,000 runs in the IPL, and is widely referred to within the league context by the nickname "Mr. IPL" for his consistency across seasons. He was part of CSK sides that won the IPL title in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021. During the period when CSK were suspended from the IPL (2016 and 2017), he led Gujarat Lions, before returning to Chennai when the franchise was reinstated in 2018.
Raina was a member of the Chennai Super Kings squad that won the Champions League Twenty20 in 2010 and 2014, the franchise tournament featuring leading domestic T20 sides from around the world.
Raina announced his retirement from international cricket on 15 August 2020, on the same day as his long-time captain M. S. Dhoni. He continued to play in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings until being released ahead of the 2022 mega-auction. In 2022, he announced his retirement from all forms of competitive Indian cricket.
Raina was known for an aggressive left-handed stroke-play, especially against spin, and for accelerating the scoring rate in the middle overs of limited-overs cricket. His fielding inside the 30-yard circle, particularly at point, set a high standard for Indian cricket in the late 2000s and 2010s. As a part-time off-spinner he was used to break partnerships and complete overs in shorter formats. Along with players such as Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, he was part of the Indian middle order that anchored multiple ICC tournament campaigns.
Raina married Priyanka Chaudhary in April 2015 and the couple have two children. He has been associated with charitable initiatives in healthcare and education through the Gracia Raina Foundation, named after his daughter, which has worked on maternal and child health awareness. He has also published an autobiography covering his cricketing journey and personal life.