IPL 2019: Suresh Raina Creates History In IPL-Opener

Chennai Super Kings star Suresh Raina is fondly called Mr IPL by his fans and the southpaw once again justified the tag on Saturday. The left-handed batsman added yet another feather to his already illustrious IPL cap during the first game of the season between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. He became the first batsman to breach the 5000-run mark in the IPL.

He achieved the feat as soon as he touched the individual score of 15. Raina, however, could not make the game memorable for him as he was out for just 19. So far, the left-handed batsman has amassed a staggering 5,004 runs in 177 IPL matches with the help of 35 fifties and one hundred.

It should be noted that Virat Kohli was the first to score 4,000 runs in IPL while Suresh Raina was the first to 2,000 and 3,000 runs in the league. Former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist was the first player to score 1,000 runs in IPL. Both Raina and Kohli had the chance to become the first man to score 5,000 runs in the game. While Kohli needed 52 to achieve the milestone, Raina needed 15.  However, Kohli was out for just 6.

Here is a list showing the top run-scorers in the history of IPL:

Talking about the game, Chennai Super Kings started their title-defence in style by dismantling Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets. Asked to bat first on a tough pitch,  Royal Challengers could post just 70 – their joint second lowest total in the competition.  Parthiv Patel top-scored for the team with 29 and was the only player to score in double digits. For Super Kings, Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir picked up three wickets apiece.

In reply, the Super Kings batsmen also struggled to get going on the sluggish track. However, with not much to chase, they eventually crossed the line in the 18th over after losing three wickets.