Suresh Raina has been making a lot of news these days. First, he announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of just 33 and then he suddenly returned from UAE where he had gone to represent CSK in the upcoming IPL 2020.
There have been a lot of speculations about a possible rift between Raina and the CSK skipper MS Dhoni and it is also being said that Raina was not happy with the fact that Dhoni was given a more luxurious room as compared to him.
These speculations are surprising because Raina is generally a very selfless man and his seleflessness has been on display quite a few times on the field. He has shown through his actions how he always thinks about others and finds his happiness in others’ happiness.
Here are the 4 reasons why Suresh Raina is one of the most selfless cricketers in the world –
#1 Celebrating Kohli’s century before him
In India’s opening game against Pakistan in the ODI World Cup 2015, Virat Kohli and Raina had a match winning partnership for the third wicket and while they both were at the crease, Kohli completed his hundred.
Kohli pushed the ball straight down the ground to complete his hundred and even before Kohli could celebrate his hundred, Raina was seen celebrating the hundred of his teammate. It was a wonderful gesture from the left-hander.
#2 Willing to bat at any position
Raina was able to bat at his fluent best while batting at no. 4 in ODI cricket as he averaged more than 45 at that position, but when the Indian team management and the captain MS Dhoni asked him to bat lower down the order for the sake of team balance, Raina accepted it and did the job for the team.
Raina even batted at no. 7 in the knockout stage of the World Cup 2011 and played two game changing knocks in the quarter-final and the semi-final game of the tournament respectively.
#3 Consoling Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant played one of the greatest IPL innings of all time in one of the games of IPL 2017 against Raina’s team Gujarat Lions and took the game completely away from them, but when Pant got out three runs short of his hundred, Raina went to him and patted on his cheeks, trying to console him for missing his century.
Raina did that despite the fact that Pant’s knock had ensured the defeat of his team Gujarat Lions. The veteran southpaw was thinking about the youngster at that stage, not about himself.
#4 Going to the other players to congratulate
Whenever India or CSK is playing and Raina is participating in the game, you would always see him running to the bowler who has taken a wicket or the fielder who has taken a catch. That’s because Raina is always looking to share others’ happiness and that’s probbaly also the reason why he has always been one of the most likeable characters, both in the Indian as well as the CSK dressing room.
