Suresh Raina, the left-handed finisher, decided to hang his boots a few minutes after his Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to retire from the international arena. Suresh Raina is an aggressive left-handed middle-order batsman who is also one of India’s finest fielders besides being an occasional off-spin bowler. He is the first Indian batsman to hit centuries in all three formats.
He is also the first cricketer to reach 5000 runs in IPL where he will continue to play for CSK along with MS Dhoni. He is the only Indian to score centuries in both T20I and 50 overs World Cup and is the third batsman and first Indian to hit a T20I century.
Suresh Raina is only 33 years of age contrary to MS Dhoni’s 39 years so it was quite unusual for him to quit playing for India instead of waiting for future opportunities. He has last represented India in 2018 against England and last played a Test in 2015. He played only 18 Tests but played 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is.
Suresh Raina: 5 Players Who Can Replace Him In The Indian Team After His Retirement
Manish Pandey
The Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey can replace Suresh Raina as a finisher although, unlike Suresh Raina, he is a right-hander. He was the first Indian to score a century in IPL 2009. He debuted for India in 2015 and occasionally gets a chance to play for India in T20Is and ODIs.
He has represented India in 26 ODI and 37 T20I and has an exceptional average of 47.13 in T20I whereas a moderate average of 35.14 in ODIs. He is remembered for a match-winning inning of 94 against Kings XI Punjab for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2014 IPL final. He was also included in the top 10 scorers of 2 IPL seasons one being in 2014 with 401 runs in 16 matches and in 2017 with 396 runs in 13 matches both for KKR.