10 lesser-known facts about Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina has been an integral part of the Indian batting line-up in limited overs cricket

Indian southpaw Suresh Raina has been a prominent feature in the national team’s batting line-up in limited-overs cricket. Throughout his career so far, Raina has been known for his aggressive batting and ability to win matches. He has also earned a lot of fan following, thanks to his exploits for Team India as well as Chennai Super Kings. On his 29^th â??birthday, we take a look at some interesting facts about the destructive left-hander:

Duck on ODI debut, century on Test debut

Suresh Raina may have been one of India’s best ODi batsmen in the recent past, however, his career in the 50-over format did not have an auspicious start as he was dismissed for a first-ball duck against Sri Lanka. On the contrary, the southpaw scored a century on Test debut which also came against India’s southern neighbours and remains his only ton in the longest format of the game till date.

First Indian to score T20I century

Raina’s 101 against South Africa at the 2010 World Twenty20 in West Indies was the first century by an Indian batsman in T20I cricket. Only one other Indian player has a hundred in the T20 format – Rohit Sharma. The leftie’s effort is also the only ton by an Indian player at the World Twenty20.

Son of a military officer from Jammu & Kashmir

His father, Trilok Chand, is a retired military officer who hails from the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Born in a family of Kashmiri Pandits, Suresh Raina has four siblings – brothers Dinesh, Naresh and Mukesh and elder sister Renu.

Played in the 2004 U-19 World Cup

Raina represented India at the 2004 edition of the ICC Under-19 World Cup, where India ended up being semi-finalists. He was accompanied by future Indian players like Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu and also some international players who went on to represent their respective countries like Angelo Matthews, Alastair Cook, Vernon Philander and Wahab Riaz among others.

India’s youngest T20I captain

At the age of 23, Suresh Raina went on to become the youngest captain for India in the T20I format. Along with this, he also became the second youngest player to lead India in any format, the youngest being Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi at the age of 21.

First Indian to hit tons in all 3 formats

The stylish left-hander is the first Indian batsman to have racked up a century in all 3 formats of the game. Raina has hit 5 hundreds in ODIs and a solitary one each in T20Is and Tests. The other batsman to have achieved this feat for India is ODI opener Rohit Sharma.

Never missed a game for CSK

Suresh Raina has not missed out on a single match for his franchise at the Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings. Even CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has missed just 3 IPL games for his team, loses out to his teammate in this regard.

Highest run getter in IPL history

The powerful southpaw holds the record for scoring the most runs in an IPL career. Raina has 3,699 runs under his belt in the 132 matches that he has played and his runs have come at a very good average of 34 plus. This includes a century and 25 half-centuries and a highest score of 100 not out.

Raina poses alongside his Porsche

Owns a Porsche Boxter Limited Edition

Suresh Raina is the proud owner of a Porsche Boxter Limited Edition luxury car, which he bought in the year 2013 on the occasion of his father’s birthday. He has preferred the yellow colour for his car as it matches with the colour that represents his IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings.

Lent his voice to a Bollywood track

Earlier this year, Raina also went on to sing a song for a 2015 Bollywood film named ‘Meeruthiya Gangsters’; it is a romantic number titled ‘Tu Mili Sab Mila’. Apart from his singing skills, the Indian batsman is also capable of playing the saxophone, a talent he displayed on a popular TV show recently.