"He is God to us"- Suresh Raina recalls how he convinced Sachin Tendulkar's best friend to set up a meeting with him
Suresh Raina shared details of his first meeting with Sachin Tendulkar. Raina was quite young when Tendulkar had already established himself as one of the best cricketers of all time.
During an appearance on Jio Cinema's new show Home of Heroes, Raina recalled that his first meeting with Tendulkar took place at CCI. Raina went to Mumbai after receiving a scholarship from Air India. He participated in local tournaments there.
When Suresh Raina hit a double hundred against Tendulkar's best friend Atul Ranade's team Sun Grace Mafatlal, he asked him if he could set up a meeting with Tendulkar. Here's how Raina narrated the incident:
"We were playing against Sun Grace Mafatlal which also had Sachin Paaji’s best friend Atul Ranade playing for them. I scored a double ton and asked Atul if I could meet Sachin Paaji. Atul made it happen and Paaji said 'Hi Suresh, how are you?', and that was all."
Raina went on to win World Cup 2011 and Road Safety World Series 2022 with Tendulkar. He admitted that he had never imagined sharing the dressing room with the God of Cricket one day.
"I couldn’t believe that one day I would share the Indian dressing room with him, and win a World Cup. Because he is God to us. I grew up listening to his matches on the transistor along with my father and brother," he added.
Raina also narrated another incident from his career. It was from his debut match for India in 2005, where he had to give a speech in the dressing room. A nervous Raina said that Rahul Dravid was his favorite player. Soon, Yuvraj Singh reminded him that the God of Cricket was sitting right there.
"I said I idolize Rahul sir a lot so Yuvi got on to me immediately and pulled my leg saying 'The world’s best batsman and God of Cricket is sitting here, how is he not your favourite?' I clarified that Sachin Paaji was also one of the favourites but I had posters of Dravid on my wall. It was a very friendly banter and broke the ice for me," Raina recalled his debut.
"I played for a club in Manchester for two months"- Suresh Raina describes his journey to Ranji Trophy
Suresh Raina was a part of the Indian U-19 World Cup squad in 2002 and 2004. His batchmates Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik earned a place in their Ranji Trophy teams after the mega event, but Raina could not make it to the Uttar Pradesh squad.
Gynanedra Pandey then suggested he play in England for some time and improve his game. Raina followed his advice and played for a club in Manchester.
"I played for a club in Manchester for two months and that taught me a lot of life skills like cooking and fine dining and I made a lot of runs. Thereafter I was picked for the UP team in Ranji Trophy," Raina said.
Suresh Raina recently retired from IPL and Indian domestic cricket. He continues to play in T20 leagues like Road Safety World Series, Legends League Cricket and Legends Cricket Trophy.