5 IPL records of Suresh Raina which might never be broken

Suresh Raina retired from all formats of domestic cricket and the IPL earlier on Tuesday. After 205 IPL appearances, the former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star decided to call it a day on his career in the cash-rich league.

Raina wanted to play a few more matches in the IPL. He even registered himself for the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. However, because of his ordinary performances in IPL 2021 and retirement from international cricket, not a single franchise showed interest in signing him.

The former CSK player worked as a commentator for the Star Sports Hindi panel during IPL 2022. He recently expressed his desire to return to the IPL in 2023 but seems to have quickly changed his mind.

Raina had an excellent career in the IPL. He set some unbreakable records, five of which have been listed below:

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#1 Suresh Raina smashed 7 boundaries in 1 over

In the IPL 2014 Qualifier 2 match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), Raina went berserk and destroyed the opposition bowling lineup. PBKS set a mammoth 227-run target for the Chennai Super Kings in the do-or-die match.

CSK lost Faf du Plessis' wicket in the first over itself. Suresh Raina came out in the middle and launched an all-out assault on Punjab. He raced to 87 runs in just 25 deliveries.

Notably, Raina hit seven boundaries in the sixth over of the innings bowled by Parvinder Awana. He hit two sixes off the first balls and a four each on the other deliveries. One of them was a no-ball, which is why Awana had to ball an extra delivery. Raina dispatched that ball to the boundary rope as well.

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#2 Suresh Raina scored the most runs by a batter in IPL powerplay

In all IPL T20 matches, the first six overs are the powerplay overs, where the fielding team can only keep a maximum of two fielders outside the 30-yard circle. This field setting allows the batters to score boundaries with ease.

However, not all batters have taken the advantage of powerplay like Raina did in 2014 against Punjab Kings. During the aforementioned innings, Raina scored 87 runs off 25 balls in the first six overs of CSK's innings. He got run out on the first ball after powerplay.

To date, no other batter has been able to match Raina's tally of 87 runs in an IPL powerplay. Adam Gilchrist is second on the list with 74 runs in 2009 against Delhi.

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#3 Raina has the best strike rate by any player in one IPL innings

Raina batted at an incredible strike rate of 348 in the IPL 2014 Qualifier 2 match against Punjab. Among all IPL innings, where a batter has played a minimum of 18 balls, Raina's strike rate of 348 is the highest.

Yusuf Pathan is the only player with a strike rate of more than 300 on the list. He batted at a strike rate of 327.27 during his 22-ball 72 against Hyderabad in IPL 2014.

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#4 Best bowling strike rate in an IPL innings

Suresh Raina was known for his top-quality batting performances, but he also holds a major IPL record in the bowling department. He has the joint-best bowling strike rate (1.5) by any player in an IPL innings.

Playing against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Jaipur in IPL 2011, Raina bowled three balls and took two wickets. He dismissed RR's tailenders Amit Singh and Shane Warne in the final over of the game.

Earlier this year, the Kolkata Knight Riders' Andre Russell matched Raina's feat by scalping four wickets in one over against the Gujarat Titans. Both Russell and Raina are at the top of the list with a bowling strike rate of 1.5.

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#5 Most runs in IPL playoffs

Suresh Raina also owns the record for the most runs by a batter in IPL playoffs matches. Despite the pressure being at the highest level during the playoffs, Suresh Raina always brought his 'A' game to the table.

He has scored 714 runs in 24 games, registering seven half-centuries, with his strike rate being 155. It will be tough for any player to match those numbers.