Suresh Raina: Top 5 facts about India's T20 champion and CSK star

India cricketer Suresh Raina celebrates his 33rd birthday on Tuesday. Raina was born on November 27, 1986. The left-handed batsman has played 226 ODIs, 78 T20Is and 18 Test matches for India with 7,988 runs, 7 centuries and 48 half-centuries to his name. He remains the first Indian ever to score at least one century in all three formats of the game. In addition to this, he is the second leading run-getter in the IPL and has won three IPL trophies with the Chennai Super Kings.

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Suresh Raina birthday: Fun facts about the CSK star

1. Roots in Kashmir

Suresh Raina’s father Trilok Chand belongs to the Rainawari district, which is situated in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. His mother is from Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. However, his family settled in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Raina has five siblings with his three elder brothers named Dinesh, Mukesh and Naresh respectively. He also has a sister named Renu.

2. Successful India Under-19 debut at the age of 16

Raina was 16 when he was first selected to represent the India Under-19s on a tour to England. The southpaw scored 72 in an unofficial four-day Test for a team which was led by Manvinder Bisla and also had the likes of Ambati Rayudu and Irfan Pathan, who then went on to become his future India teammates. Tim Bresnan was a renowned player in that England team.

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3. A forgettable ODI debut 

After his success in domestic cricket and for representative Indian sides, the left-hander was called up to represent the senior Indian team at the age of 18. However, Raina’s international debut was not a day to remember. Against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on July 30, 2005, the left-hand batsman was dismissed off the very first ball by none other than Sri Lanka's legendary spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan. Bagging a duck on ODI debut put him in the company of Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, and Shikhar Dhawan.

4. Youngest captain to lead India in T20Is 

Raina is the youngest Indian captain to lead India in T20 internationals at the age of 23. He also happens to be the second oldest to lead India in ODIs behind Sachin Tendulkar.

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5. First to score centuries in all three formats for India

Raina became the first Indian to record a century in each format of international cricket when he hit a century on Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2010. Raina had scored his first ODI century against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup 2008. His and India’s first T20I century came against South Africa in the 2010 ICC World T20 in the West Indies.

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