'Incredible ride': Suresh Raina recalls his Team India journey after announcing retirement

Image Credits: Twitter/@ICC

A day after suddenly bidding adieu to international cricket, former Indian batsman Suresh Raina has shared a heartfelt video of his cricketer journey and thanked all those people who helped him through his career with the national team.

Just a few minutes after India's most successful captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket, out-of-favour batsman Suresh Raina also called curtains on his international career on Saturday.

On Sunday, Raina once again took to his official Instagram account and shared an emotional video of his journey with the Indian men's cricket team. He also defended his decision to retire from the international arena saying that he never settled for anything without justification.

"With a lot of mixed feelings I’m able to make this announcement of my retirement. From a very young age, I as a small boy had literally lived Cricket on every street, gali and nukkad of my small town before making it to the Indian team.All I have known is cricket, all I have done is cricket & it runs through my veins,"Raina wrote along with the video.

"There hasn’t been a single day without counting my blessings & without acknowledging everything I have received from god & my people who showered nothing but love on me.All I strived for was to value those blessings & give my everything in return to my game, to my country & everyone who has been a part of this journey.I had multiple surgeries, set backs & moments when I felt that this is it but I didn’t stop or settle for anything which was not justified," he added.

Describing his cricket journey as 'incredible', Raina thanked his family, coaches and his Team India teammates for supporting him through all his ups and downs.

Raina further said that it was a privilege to play under the captaincy of some of the best minds namely Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.

"It's been an incredible ride and it would not have been possible without everyone who supported me during my ups and downs. This journey could not have been possible without the unflinching support and sacrifices of my parents, my loving wife Priyanka, my children Gracia and Rio, my brothers, my sister and all members of our family. This is all you. My Coaches who always showed me the right direction, my Physicians for helping me heal, my trainers for helping me perform at the highest level," Raina wrote.

"My boys in BLUE, nothing would have been possible without the support of the wonderful India Team in blue. I had the pleasure of playing with the best of the very best players and all of them played for Team India. I feel lucky to have played under the captaincy of some of the best minds in the game Rahul Bhai, Anil Bhai, Sachin Paaji, Chiku and especially with @mahi7781 for guiding me as a friend and mentor," the former Indian batsman wrote.

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With a lot of mixed feelings I’m able to make this announcement of my retirement. From a very young age, I as a small boy had literally lived Cricket on every street, gali and nukkad of my small town before making it to the Indian team. All I have known is cricket, all I have done is cricket & it runs through my veins. There hasn’t been a single day without counting my blessings & without acknowledging everything I have received from god & my people who showered nothing but love on me. All I strived for was to value those blessings & give my everything in return to my game, to my country & everyone who has been a part of this journey. I had multiple surgeries, set backs & moments when I felt that this is it but I didn’t stop or settle for anything which was not justified. It's been an incredible ride and it would not have been possible without everyone who supported me during my ups and downs. This journey could not have been possible without the unflinching support and sacrifices of my parents, my loving wife Priyanka, my children Gracia and Rio, my brothers, my sister and all members of our family. This is all you. My Coaches who always showed me the right direction, my Physicians for helping me heal, my trainers for helping me perform at the highest level. My boys in BLUE, nothing would have been possible without the support of the wonderful India Team in blue. I had the pleasure of playing with the best of the very best players and all of them played for Team India. I feel lucky to have played under the captaincy of some of the best minds in the game Rahul Bhai, Anil Bhai, Sachin Paaji, Chiku and especially with @mahi7781 for guiding me as a friend and mentor. Thank you @indiancricketteam and @upcacricket for the all the support and making the dreams of a boy from UP wanting to play for team India come true. And lastly my fans, I am what I am because of the love and adulation that you have showered upon me thru the years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everyone who supported me in playing International Cricket at the highest level. I’ll always be filled with nothing but gratitude  Forever, Team India Jai Hind 

A post shared by Suresh Raina (@sureshraina3) on Aug 16, 2020 at 3:53am PDT

Raina last represented the national side during a One-Day International (ODI) series against England in July 2018.

Raina made his international debut for India with an ODI clash against Sri Lanka in Dambulla in July 2005.A year later, he played his first international match in the shortest format of the game when he featured in a T20I match against South Africa in Johannesburg in December 2006.

Raina's Test debut came much later in July 2010. He played his first match for India in the longest format of the game against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

The Indian batsman amassed a total of 768 runs in 18 Tests, 5,615 runs in 226 ODIs and 1,605 runs in 78 T20Is.

Besides this, Raina also notched up 8,078 runs in 302 List-A games and 6,871 runs in 109 first-class matches.

Raina was also part of the Indian squad that lifted the ICC Men's World Cup title after a long wait of 28 years after a victory over Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede Stadium.

Dhoni and Raina are all set to feature for CSK in the 2020 edition of the IPL, which will take place from September 19 to November 10 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The lucrative T20 tournament was earlier postponed indefinitely by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) due to coronavirus pandemic.