4 times Suresh Raina dazzled with the ball in hand
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) superstar Suresh Raina followed his Indian Premier League (IPL) captain MS Dhoni into international retirement yesterday. In a heartfelt post on Instagram, the southpaw stated that he has chosen to join Dhoni on this journey.
Suresh Raina's greatest bowling performances
Apart from his obvious skills with the bat, Suresh Raina is electric in the field and handy with the ball. A key component of any side led by MS Dhoni, the off-spinner has been consistent in the middle overs, often keeping opposition batsmen on a leash.
Inevitably, batsmen look to take him on since they consider him a part-timer, and often lose their wickets in the process. Here are Suresh Raina's 4 best bowling performances in his career so far.
#4 4-0-17-2 vs Kings XI Punjab (IPL 2009)
In the 54th match of the 2009 IPL in South Africa, Suresh Raina registered figures of 2/17 in his 4 overs to take CSK to a 24-run win over the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).
After the Men in Yellow managed only 116/9 in their 20 overs due to an inspired KXIP bowling performance (Suresh Raina was the second-highest scorer with 20), Luke Pomersbach steadied the ship to take his team to 45/2. However, Muralitharan dismissed the attacking southpaw as Raina claimed the catch, sparking a collapse.
Suresh Raina dismissed Yuvraj Singh moments later, before returning later on in the innings to pick up the wicket of Brett Lee. The CSK vice-captain's miserly spell played a big part in restricting KXIP to only 92 in their 20 overs.
However, Muralitharan was adjudged the Man of the Match for his spell of 4-0-8-2.
#3 8-0-45-3 vs Bangladesh (3rd ODI, 2015)
In the 3rd ODI against Bangladesh in 2015 at Dhaka, Suresh Raina registered his second-best figures in the 50-over format when he took 3/45.
After the hosts won the toss and put India in to bat, the Men in Blue amassed a total of 317 in their 50 overs, riding on the back of fifties from MS Dhoni and Shikhar Dhawan. Suresh Raina chipped in with a handy 38 off 21 balls, which was an innings studded with 3 fours and 2 sixes.
In response, Bangladesh were decently poised at 112/2, before Raina scalped the wicket of the set Mushfiqur Rahim, who was batting on 24. The off-spinner followed it up with the crucial wicket of all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, before dismissing Rubel Hossain towards the end of the innings to achieve only his second 3-wicket haul in ODIs.
Bangladesh were bowled out for 240, and Suresh Raina was adjudged the Man of the Match for his all-round performance.