Suresh Raina joins MS Dhoni to call it a day from international cricket

The southpaw made his debut for the Indian team in 2005, against Sri Lanka before being part of the World Cup-winning squad in 2011. The all-rounder began his cricketing career in the 50-over format before being part of the Indian squad in the T20I format. 

However, Raina had to wait five years after his debut before making an appearance in the longest format where he made just the 18 appearances. Despite that, in the 50-over format, Raina has scored 5615 runs, at an average of 35.31, including his valuable contributions in the 2011 World-Cup winning team, against Pakistan and Australia. In the 20-over format, however, the all-rounder played only 78 games, where he scored 1605 runs. 

Raina, on Saturday, moments after MS Dhoni announced his retirement posted on his Instagram account, indicated that he would join the former Indian skipper into retirement life. Earlier, Raina was still hopeful of making it to the T20I squad for the Indian team under Virat Kohli. However, officially, Raina has put an end to it by announcing his retirement from all formats of international cricket. 

“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!,” he posted on Instagram minutes after MS Dhoni’s announcement.