36* vs Pakistan, World Cup 2011
India and Pakistan were facing each other in the knock out round the first time since 1996. The host India had a good start with Sachin Tendulkar scoring 85 run but things became unauspicious for India after he lost the wicket. Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh had cheaply lost their wicket. MS Dhoni also threw his wicket after adding 25 runs on the board. India was at 205 for six and need about 70 more runs to put a fighting total.
Then Suresh Raina played a calm and composed innings with tailenders. He stitched small partnerships with Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, guiding the team score to 260.
Although it was below par score, Pakistan fell short of 29 runs as India entered the finals eventually lifting the trophy.
With India having a heavy top and middle order, Suresh Raina’s role mostly was to provide the final flourish to the innings. Thus, the numbers don’t exactly reveal how valuable an asset he was for India.