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Suresh Raina, former India cricketer was felicitated with the prestigious ‘Sports Icon’ award at the Maldives Sports Awards organized by the Maldives government. The agile fielder, former CSK and Indian batter Suresh Raina thanked Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Sports Minister Ahmed Mahloof for the honour while saying that the feeling of representing India on a global platform in presence of world champions was unmatchable.

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina was felicitated with the prestigious ‘Sports Icon’ award at the Maldives Sports Awards 2022 by the Maldives government. He was nominated alongside 16 international sportspersons, including former Real Madrid player Roberto Carlos, Jamaican Sprinter Asafa Powell, former Sri Lankan captain and cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya and Dutch football legend Edgar Davids.

Former India cricket Suresh Raina was presented with the 'Sports Icon' Award at Maldives Sports Awards | Photo: Suresh Raina Twitter — Former India cricket Suresh Raina was presented with the ‘Sports Icon’ Award at Maldives Sports Awards | Photo: Suresh Raina Twitter

Suresh Raina Felicitated With Prestigious ‘Sports Icon’ Award At Maldives Sports Awards

Suresh Raina was presented with the award for his various achievements throughout his cherished career. He was presented with the award in presence of Md. Zahir Ahsan Russel, the Minister of Youth and Sports of Bangladesh; Al-Kadi Badr Abdul Rahman, the Vice Minister of Sports of Saudi Arabia; Ahmed Nazeer, the Honorary President of the Maldives Tennis Association.

The glorious event was chaired by the President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Sports Ministers, world-renowned athletes and Maldivian athletes. Spearheaded by the minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Ahmed Mahloof, the Maldives Sports Awards 2022 was aimed at restructuring the historical awards ceremony as a national endeavour.

Ahmed Mahloof stated that he intends this awards ceremony to be a consistent, yearly event, to properly give credit, support, and recognition to the athletes in various sports.

File image of Suresh Raina.(AP) — File image of Suresh Raina. (AP)

According to a release, the Maldives Sports Awards 2022 was held late evening on March 17 at the Synthetic Running Track in Male and was followed up by a music show the next night, with talented bands and musicians that include local favourites as well guest singers from India.

The Maldives President also honoured Saudi Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal with the “Maldives Sports Award” for 2022 for his efforts in developing Saudi sports and striving to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. He was honoured also for his support for sports in the Maldives in a way that promotes ways of joint cooperation between the two friendly countries.

Talking about Suresh Raina’s international career, he played 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is for India scoring close to 8000 international runs. Apart from this, he was a member of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad.

Suresh Raina Was A Part Of The 2011 World Cup Winning Team And Won The IPL Trophy 4 Times With CSK But Failed To Find A Place In Any Of 10 Teams In IPL 2022

Suresh Raina is known for aiding the Indian cricket team to its World Cup glory back in 2011 and has also won the Indian Premier League(IPL) trophy four times with the Chennai Super Kings(CSK) franchise.

He is the first Indian player to score 6000 as well as 8000 runs in a Twenty20 career and the first-ever cricketer to reach 5,000 runs in IPL. He also holds the record for scoring the most fifties in Champions League T20 history.

However, in the IPL 2022 mega auction, the 35-year-old did not find a franchise as the teams revamped their squads and two new teams also were added by the BCCI. The season kicks off with CSK taking on KKR on March 26 at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.