Suresh Raina roared back to form in style at Kolkata's Eden Gardens today (January 22). The left-hander blitzed his way to a century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 tournament.
The 31-year-old left-hander has endured a torrid time with the bat. He has found it difficult to get runs in recent times, in Ranji Trophy and the zonal phase of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. However, it was different on Monday.
Raina, captain of Uttar Pradesh team, smashed 13 fours and seven sixes to remain unbeaten on his T20 career-best 126 off 59. His strike rate was 213.56.
His score of 126 is the second highest by an Indian in the shortest format. The top mark is 127 by Murali Vijay for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2010.
From one left hander to another. In the former Captain @SGanguly99’s presence, @ImRaina hits a 49-ball century #BENvUP pic.twitter.com/knqpuixutZ
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 22, 2018
Thanks to Raina's record knock, Uttar Pradesh posted 235/3 in 20 overs against Bengal in their Super League Group B match. Raina's superb innings was watched at the venue and appreciated by former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
Raina has been out of the Indian limited-overs team since February 2017 when he played against England in a T20I in Bengaluru. Recently, he was retained by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
So far, Raina has played 18 Tests, 223 ODIs and 65 T20Is for India. He is one of the best batsmen in T20 format for India with over 7,000 runs.