4 reasons why we all love Suresh Raina

On this day in 1986, one of cricket's humblest sons, Suresh Raina was born. Raina made his debut appearance for India on July 30, 2005, against Sri Lanka, and got out for for a duck in his maiden international innings. Contrasting to that, he scored a century on his Test debut against the same opponent later on. Further contrary to this, he went on to shine for India only in limited overs cricket.

He has scored 768 Test runs, 5615 ODI runs and 1605 T20I runs for India. Several much-underrated innings have been seen from him, during the course of his career - especially the innings against Pakistan in 2011 World Cup semi-finals, which helped India to set up a total decent enough to be successfully defended, the rest being history.

He also played a vital role in 2011 World Cup quarter-finals when India were chasing a tricky target against Australia, scoring at a rate of more than a run-a-ball. Yet, many of us would talk only about big moments and sometimes these vital moments get unnoticed most of the times.

Suresh Raina is also fondly called "Mr. IPL" by his fans or the immense contribution with the bat for CSK, across several seasons. He has scored over 400 runs in almost easy and every edition of the tournament till date. His presence is also supremely on top, when you consider some of the prime batting records in the event.

Well, there is no point to keep writing about his runs, centuries, wickets or his fielding as you can find these anywhere else on the internet too. Today, the objective is different. On the occasion of his born day, it only seems fitting to assess the gem of a character that Suresh Raina is - which in turn makes his actions and presence much loved, both on and off the field.

Here are four reasons why we all love Suresh Raina:

#1 First to appreciate a milestone

Whenever a landmark moment takes place, like a bowler claiming a wicket, or a fielder effecting a catch or a run-out, Raina is usually one of the first persons to appreciate the person behind it. It really never mattered how far away he was - if someone deserved a tap on the back for his fielding, Raina was always the first person who to it that it happened.

A very specific occasion which people will continue to remember would be when Virat Kohli scored a well-made century against Pakistan in 2015 World Cup at Adelaide. Virat Kohli pushed the ball towards onside for a single when he on 99, and he did not acknowledge the feat until he finished the run. Meanwhile, television cameras picked up Raina who raised his own hands up high and pumped his free fist while running, celebrating Kohli's century before the man himself.

#2 Giving due respect to team-mates

Respecting team-mates is something we all admire about Raina, When Dhoni retired from Test cricket, Raina was deeply saddened. The duo had not only shared the blues of Team India, but also the yellows of the CSK team. Upon the occasion, Raina penned down a very emotional statement filled with love and respect for his colleague. He also wore Dhoni's jersey on the field.

Even when not in the team he takes to Twitter to appreciate, acknowledge and respect the achievements made by his team-mates. He does the same for players not in his team too. In the 2017 IPL season, Raina's Gujarat Lions set a daunting target for Delhi Daredevils to chase. DD lost an early wicket during the 209-runs' chase, and then came Rishabh Pant who smashed 97 runs in 43 balls but missed the well deserving century by three runs.

Raina, despite being the opponent captain, ran towards him gave the valuable piece of advice, also acknowledging his fabulous innings. Such small things make a huge impact not only for the team but also for each player. On several occasions, he has also been seen chatting with the likes of ball boys, ground staff and so on. These small gestures make him a special person.

#3 Being a team player

Raina has never had a permanent batting position during his international career. As a batsman, players generally prefer playing in certain batting position that suits their styles and performance to the best. But that wasn’t a case in Raina's career as he was mostly used as a floater.

If need be, he would be asked to bat at the top or with the middle order, sometimes even at the lower positions. It impacted his batting a lot, as most of the times he would either be left without a partner or the overs would run out, and those, in turn, led to a serious drought of runs for him. It also became a drawback in his career. Yet, he never refused to do this as for him, the team always came first. Even if he was dropped, he never failed to voice out his positive opinion in social media, whenever India did well.

#4 Dedication towards the game

If the need arises to pick the all-time top five Indian fielders, we could be sure that Suresh Raina would feature in the list. He always gives his 100% - whether it is batting, bowling or fielding. Whenever he gets a chance to contribute he will commit himself to deliver more than what is required.

You can place Raina anywhere in the field, but he will throw himself on the ropes to try and save boundary shots. He always tries to pocket every possible catch and try to save as many runs as possible, when inside the circle. Despite not being much a bowler himself, he has often taken up the ball and sometimes even bring an immediate result, whenever some of the main men face a slump or get hit for runs.

Fun fact: the Chennai Super Kings played a consecutive 158 IPL games with Raina, before which he finally had to stay out of a game owing to injury. He did not miss a single game in all of these years until then, and that should speak of Raina's commitment over everything else.