New Delhi: Veteran India batter Suresh Raina is set to make his return to cricket in the Abu Dhabi T20 League. The southpaw has been signed by Deccan Gladiators. Raina is no more an international cricketer and has also retired from IPL. He does not hold any BCCI contract and thus is eligible to play in overseas leagues.
Raina will join hands with Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran and Odean Smith, Taskin Ahmed, and Jason Roy Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the Gladiators’ camp. This will be the sixth edition of the Abi Dhabi T10 League and will get underway on November 23 with Deccan Gladiators taking on Team Abi Dhabi in the opening game.
World Cup winner @ImRaina has signed for the @TeamDGladiators ???
One of India’s all time finest white-ball players, Raina will line up in the #AbuDhabiT10 for the first time and we can’t wait ?#InAbuDhabi #CricketsFastestFormat pic.twitter.com/7FGP5TWk89
T10 League (@T10League) November 1, 2022
Raina had a stellar international career that lasted over 13 years. The southpaw represented India in 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is, scoring 5615 runs from 226 ODIs at an average of 35.31. Raina scored five centuries and 36 half-centuries in the ODIs.
In 78 T20Is, Raina amassed 1,605 runs at an average of 29.18. He also scored a brilliant century against South Africa in T20Is and became the first Indian to hit a century in all formats of the game. Raina also featured in 18 Tests but failed to carry over his form in the longer format.
Raina owned Indian Premier League and dominated the T20 extravaganza for over a decade. Before retiring, he scored 5,528 runs to his name in 205 IPL matches with 39 half-centuries and one century at a strike rate of 136.76. Raina is the fifth highest-run scorer in IPL of all time.
