Raina leave IPL 2020: One of the most successful Indian Premier League players had missed the last season in the UAE.
Advertisement
During the second match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals in Mumbai, Chennai Super Kings vice-captain Suresh Raina scored his 40th IPL half-century to announce a comeback into the biggest T20 league.
Contrary to his expected No. 3 batting number, Raina came in to bat at No. 4 in the third over as Super Kings lost a couple of early wickets after Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant won the toss and chose to bowl.
Having played four dot balls, Raina cut Capitals all-rounder Chris Woakes for a boundary to get off the mark. In the fifth over, Raina hit a couple of boundaries against Delhi spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
While the southpaw was scoring at a decent pace, he was yet to time the ball in a manner one generally expects him to. Playing in the IPL after a couple of years, Raina started to look better with time as he hit a couple of sixes against veteran spinner Amit Mishra to celebrate his comeback.
Super Raina king @ChennaiIPL well played China thala 💪💪
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 10, 2021
In the following over, the 34-year old player targeted Delhi all-rounder Marcus Stoinis as yet another six saw him bringing up his 53rd T20 half-century. It was only a run-out in the 16th over which led to Raina’s dismissal after him scoring 54 (36) with the help of three fours and four sixes.
Why did Suresh Raina leave IPL 2020?
Raina, who had traveled to the UAE for IPL 2020, had returned before the start of the tournament due to “personal reasons”. Despite speculations of various kinds, it was reported that Raina returned back to India due to bio-bubble-related concerns.
Has Suresh Raina retired from international cricket?
Having announced retirement from international cricket last year, IPL 2020 would’ve been the first competitive tournament for Raina. In what wasn’t to be, Raina represented Uttar Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this year scoring 102 runs at an average and strike rate of 34 and 115.90 respectively.
