Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 5 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina spoke on his maiden T20I century and the match he would like to play again if given a chance.
Raina was speaking on cricketer Aakash Chopra's Youtube Channel.
Speaking on choosing between his maiden T20I ton or the 25-ball 87 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2014, he picked up his maiden T20I century for India in the 2010 T20 World Cup against South Africa, which made him the first Indian to reach century across all formats.
Speaking about his favourite knock, he said, "The T20I century for India. I was the first player to score a hundred (for India in T20I) and we won that game too. That was special. In the IPL, there are many knocks, but scoring that first hundred for India, that was special."
Against SA in the 2010 T20WC, he smashed 101 in 60 balls, with nine fours and five sixes, guiding India to a win.
On a favourite knock alongside his long-time batting partner and close friend MS Dhoni, he recalled his century against Zimbabwe in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. Chasing 287, India was 92/4, but Raina (110* in 104 balls, with nine fours and four sixes) put a 196-run stand with Dhoni (85* in 76 balls, with eight fours and two sixes), winning the game for India.
"The pressure one was against Zimbabwe when I scored a hundred, and he batted with me. We were chasing and were four down. It was a pressure game, as we were going to qualify if we won that," he said.
On the game he would go back and play again, he chose the semifinal of the 2015 World Cup against Australia, which India lost by 95 runs while chasing 329 runs. Raina could score just seven runs, and the team failed to build on a 76-run stand between Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan for the first wicket.
"The 2015 World Cup semifinal. I felt I was batting well, but I got out. We had started well. I feel we could have batted better, as the dream was to win back-to-back World Cups. I feel we gave away too many runs. If I could reverse that, I would want to go back and score 80-90 not out. We could have chased it," he said.
In 2020, Raina had announced his retirement from international cricket following MS Dhoni's retirement confirmation. In an international career spanning 13 years, Raina represented India in 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is.
Raina gathered 5615 runs from 226 ODIs at an average of 35.31. His best score in the format is 116*. Raina scored five centuries and 36 half-centuries in the format.
In 78 T20Is, the left-hander has scored 1,605 runs at an average of 29.18. His best score in the format is 101. Raina scored one century and five half-centuries in the format.
Across 31 innings in 18 Tests, Raina scored 768 runs at an average of 26.48. 120 is Raina's best score in the longer format of the game. He has scored a century and seven half-centuries in this format. (ANI)
Suresh Raina speaks on "special" maiden T20I ton, a match he'd like to play again
