Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina has spoken about his maiden T20 International century and identified the 2015 World Cup semi-final as the match he would most like to play again.
Raina made these comments during an appearance on cricketer Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel. When asked to choose between his maiden T20I century and his 25-ball 87-run innings against Punjab Kings in the 2014 IPL, he selected the T20I ton. This century came during the 2010 T20 World Cup against South Africa, making him the first Indian to score a century across all formats.
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He described the innings as “special”, stating, “The T20I century for India. I was the first player to score a hundred (for India in T20I) and we won that game too. That was special. In the IPL, there are many knocks, but scoring that first hundred for India, that was special.” In that match, Raina scored 101 runs off 60 balls, including nine fours and five sixes, contributing to India’s victory over South Africa.
Raina also recalled a memorable innings alongside MS
Raina also recalled a memorable innings alongside MS Dhoni in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup against Zimbabwe. Chasing 287, India were 92 for 4 when Raina scored an unbeaten 110 off 104 balls, hitting nine fours and four sixes, and shared a 196-run partnership with Dhoni, who scored 85 not out. He said, “The pressure one was against Zimbabwe when I scored a hundred, and he batted with me. We were chasing and were four down. It was a pressure game, as we were going to qualify if we won that.”
When asked which game he would choose to play again, Raina named the 2015 World Cup semi-final against Australia, which India lost by 95 runs while chasing 329. He made seven runs in the match. Reflecting on the game, he said, “The 2015 World Cup semifinal. I felt I was batting well, but I got out. We had started well. I feel we could have batted better, as the dream was to win back-to-back World Cups. I feel we gave away too many runs. If I could reverse that, I would want to go back and score 80-90 not out. We could have chased it.”
Raina retired from international cricket in 2020 following MS Dhoni’s retirement announcement. Over a 13-year international career, he played 18 Test matches, 226 One Day Internationals (ODIs), and 78 T20Is for India.
In ODIs, Raina scored 5,615 runs at an average of 35.31, including five centuries and 36 half-centuries, with a highest score of 116 not out. In T20Is, he accumulated 1,605 runs at an average of 29.18, with one century and five half-centuries, his top score being 101. In Test cricket, he scored 768 runs in 31 innings at an average of 26.48, including one century and seven half-centuries, with a best score of 120.
Source: thenewsmill.com
