When the Indian Premier League (IPL) began in April 2008, Suresh Raina was a national-team discard. He had played 36 one-day internationals (ODIs) with moderate success since making his debut as an 18-year-old, but once he was dropped on the eve of the 2007 World Cup, the door remained shut for well over a year.
The IPL, and Chennai Super Kings, changed everything. In that inaugural season, when Chennai reached the final, Raina smashed 421 runs at a strike-rate of 142.22. He topped 400 runs in each of the next six seasons, striking at better than 140. Even in 2015, statistically his worst year, he managed 374 runs.
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Soon after that first IPL, Raina was back in the ODI side. He was an integral part of the team that won the 2011 World Cup, producing game-changing contributions against Australia and Pakistan in the knockout rounds. He also won 18 Test caps, though he enjoyed far less success in an arena where bowlers quickly worked out his issues with the short ball.
In the IPL, there were few such problems. There were two titles with Chennai, before the team’s suspension in 2015 resulted in him moving to the new Gujarat Lions franchise. With the league phase winding down, the side he captains is well placed for a play-off spot.
But on May 14, his epic IPL streak finally came to an end. With Priyanka, his wife, expecting their first child, Raina opted to miss the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was the first match he had missed in nine seasons. The sequence ended at 143 matches and 3985 runs.
It’s been a difficult couple of years for Raina, with performances dipping in both ODIs and the Twenty20 format. He hasn’t had a spectacular IPL until now — 286 runs at a strike-rate of 126.54 — but team success with the Lions could well bolster his chances ahead of what is a very long season for the national side.
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