5 Best IPL knocks of Suresh Raina

Famously known as Mr. IPL, Suresh Raina won't feature anymore in the cash-rich league any more. On Tuesday (September 6), Raina announced his retirement from domestic cricket and also from the Indian Premier League. He took the massive decision to focus on other T20 leagues across the globe.

Despite being an integral part of the team for over a decade, Raina wasn’t retained by the Chennai Super Kings franchise ahead of the 15th edition of Indian Premier League. He was thought to be picked by any team in the auction but that didn’t happen either. Dejected Raina was seen as a part of the broadcast team where he assured his fans to return back to cricket.

Once known as the successor of MS Dhoni in the Chennai team, Chinna Thala has an average of 32.5 and scored 5528 runs in the IPL. He is now eyeing to play in the Road Safety World Championship and then in T20 leagues in South Africa, UAE and Sri Lanka. Thus, it calls for a perfect time to look back and see some of the best knocks of Suresh Raina in the history of the Indian Premier League.

1. 87 from 25 balls against Kings XI Punjab in 2014

If not the best, it is definitely one of the best knocks played in the history of IPL. With a strike-rate of 348, Suresh Raina ripped apart the Punjab bowlers before he was run-out.

Batting first, Virender Sehwag ran havoc and scored 122 runs and helped Punjab put 226 on board after 20 overs. Given the fact that it’s the second qualifier, there was immense pressure on Chennai to start well. Unfortunately, they lost the wicket of Faf Du Plessis pretty early and Raina came to bat.

His merciless innings of 87 runs from 25 balls consist of 12 fours and six sixes in total. He helped Chennai to match Punjab’s dominance but the middle order let Chennai Super Kings down as the team lost the match by 24 runs. Even though Raina’s innings came on a losing cause, it will always be his best innings in IPL.