In 2020, 33-year-old Suresh Raina has shocked his fans by taking international retirement with MS Dhoni. However, the southpaw chose to continue playing IPL, but due to unimpressive performance in IPL 2021, CSK released their Loyal Man and he unexpectedly went unsold in IPL 2022 Auction. In September 2022, he again took a shocking decision by retiring from all the BCCI Cricket including the IPL.
Raina’s heroics helped Ganaga Warriors in the Final
However, Raina is still very much active on the field as just after his IPL retirement he played Road Safety Cricket Series, a cricket tournament involving retired international players. This week, he played for Ganga Warriors in the Kannada Chalanachitra Cup 2023 and starred for them in the Final match. The 6-team tournament held at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and witness a total of 6 group matches. Ganga Warriors and Vijayanagar Patriots made it to the final.
Renowned Kannada actors and 6 cricketers were part of KCC season 3. Along with Suresh Raina; Chris Gayle, Herschelle Gibbs, Brian Lara, Tilakaratne Dilshan and Subramaniam Badrinath played KCC T10 2023. But it was Suresh Raina who stole the show with his heroics in the Final match. The southpaw first picked 2 wickets and then scored an unbeaten 54 off 29 balls to help Ganga Warriors chase 81 runs.
Suresh Raina stuns fans with a caught-and-bowled in KCC 3
The 36-year-old cricketer picked up two catches during the match and his caught-and-bowled sent fans into nostalgia. Raina bowled a wicket-to-wicket delivery, Patriots batter failed to pick it up properly and played it towards the non-striker end. Raina was quick and plucked the catch with a dive. Here’s the video.
This man ❤️ @ImRaina pic.twitter.com/BXeaftlVCN
— im_Maniiiii🏹 (@manivegi935) February 25, 2023
ALSO READ: Kannada Chalanachitra Cup 2023 Live Telecast Channel: Where to watch KCC 3 Streaming?
For his all-round performance, Suresh Raina was awarded Man of the Match in the KCC Final. After winning the cup, Suresh Raina thanked Kichcha Sudeep via Instagram, “Had a great time playing at Chinnaswamy Stadium again, brings back so many memories. Thankyou #KCC @Kichchasudeepa bhai, it was superbly organised and looking forward to the next season,” wrote the left-handed batter.