Suresh Raina (born 27 November 1986) is a former Indian international cricketer. An attacking left-handed middle-order batter, a part-time off-spinner and one of the finest fielders India has produced, he played 322 matches for the country between 2005 and 2018 and was a member of the teams that won the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. He was the first Indian to score a century in each of the three international formats, and his record for Chennai Super Kings earned him the nickname “Mr IPL”.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Suresh Kumar Raina |
| Born | 27 November 1986, Muradnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Age | 39 |
| Role | Middle-order batter |
| Batting | Left-handed |
| Bowling | Right-arm off-break |
| International career | 2005–2018 |
| IPL teams | Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions |
| Spouse | Priyanka Chaudhary (m. 2015) |
| Children | 2 (Gracia and Rio) |
Early Life
Raina was born in Muradnagar, near Ghaziabad, the youngest of five children. His father, Trilokchand Raina, came from a Kashmiri Pandit family that had left the Kashmir Valley and worked in an ordnance factory. At twelve Suresh won a place at the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow, a residential school, where he has said he faced severe bullying from older boys but stayed for the cricket. He played for the Uttar Pradesh under-16 side at thirteen, made his Ranji Trophy debut at sixteen and was part of India’s team at the 2004 Under-19 World Cup.
Career
He made his one-day debut against Sri Lanka in July 2005 and became a regular under Greg Chappell and later MS Dhoni. In 2010 he scored 101 against South Africa at the World Twenty20, the first T20 international hundred by an Indian, and in July that year made 120 on his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo, completing centuries in all three formats.
At the 2011 World Cup he came into the side late in the tournament and played two decisive innings: 34 not out in the quarter-final against Australia and 36 not out in the semi-final against Pakistan. He was also part of the team that won the Champions Trophy in England in 2013. In all he scored 5,615 runs in 226 one-day internationals, with five centuries, and played 18 Tests and 78 T20 internationals.
Raina joined Chennai Super Kings at the first IPL auction in 2008 and was the team’s vice-captain and leading run-scorer for most of the next decade, winning the title in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021. He was the first player to score 5,000 runs in the league. His 87 off 25 balls against Punjab in the 2014 qualifier is often counted among the greatest IPL innings. When Chennai were suspended for two seasons he captained Gujarat Lions in 2016 and 2017.
On 15 August 2020, minutes after Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket, Raina did the same. He withdrew from that year’s IPL for personal reasons after relatives in Punjab were killed in a robbery. He retired from all Indian cricket in September 2022 and has since played in overseas and veterans’ leagues and worked as a commentator.
Personal Life
He married Priyanka Chaudhary, a childhood acquaintance who worked in banking in the Netherlands, in April 2015. They have a daughter, Gracia, and a son, Rio, and run the Gracia Raina Foundation, which works on the health of mothers and young children. His autobiography, Believe, was published in 2021.
Records and Achievements
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Suresh Raina born?
Suresh Raina was born on 27 November 1986 in Muradnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India and is 39 years old.
What is Suresh Raina’s role?
Role: Middle-order batter.
Featured image: Suresh Raina at an Indian team training session at the Sydney Cricket Ground, January 2015. Photo by Naparazzi, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
