A day after announcing retirement from international cricket, Suresh Raina took to his Instagram page and shared a heartfelt note for his fans. The 33-year-old expressed his love for cricket and revealed that he has ‘mixed feelings’ while announcing retirement. Raina threw light on his sensational career and recalled his journey from street cricket to the national team. The 2011-World Cup winner also mentioned that cricket runs in his veins and there hasn’t been a day when he didn’t think about the game. He also thanked his family members, loved ones and MS Dhoni for supporting his throughout his career. MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina Announce Retirement From International Cricket: 144 vs England and Other Match-Winning Partnerships.

While sharing the emotional note on the picture-sharing website, Raina shared a compilation video over the song ‘Zindagi Kuch Toh Bata’ which had the clips of some of the glorious moments of his career. The 3:47-minute video included Raina’s debut match, 2011 World Cup glory and many candid moments with MS Dhoni. Cricket fans were touched after coming across the emotional video as they filled the comment section with praises. In fact, the likes of Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan also reacted to the post and showered blessings on the southpaw. Without further ado, let’s look at the post. Suresh Raina Family Pics With Wife Priyanka, Daughter Gracia & Son Rio.

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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

Raina’s retirement came just a few minutes after Dhoni bid farewell to international cricket. Fans were in shocked but they celebrated the success of the legendary duo by paying tributes to them. Well, the two swashbuckling batsmen might not wear the national jersey again. However, they’ll continue to showcase their blitzes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. The marquee tournament will get underway on September 19 in UAE and it will be interesting to see if Dhoni and Raina can guide the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to their fourth IPL title or not.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 16, 2020 08:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).