I played for MSD, then I played for my country: Suresh Raina's interesting remark

Raina and MSD for India [Twitter]

15 August, 2020 was a sad day for Indian cricket fans. Arguably the greatest skipper of India, Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket. 

If this was a bitter pill to swallow, half an hour later his best friend, Suresh Raina followed MSD's footsteps and called off his time at the international level as well. At that point of time, Raina was out of favour in the Indian side, and the last time he represented the Men in Blue was against England in 2018.

It has been more than two years since the duo retired together, and now Raina has opened up on his decision to retire just after MSD's announcement. In an interview with Sports Tak, Raina was asked the reason about his sudden retirement from international cricket.

“We played so many matches together. I was fortunate to play with MSD for India, and with CSK. We got a lot of love. I've come from Ghaziabad, Dhoni from Ranchi. I played for MS Dhoni, then I played for the country. That's the connection. We've played so many finals, we won the World Cup. MS is a great leader and a great human being,” Raina said to Sports Tak.

The duo of MSD and Raina won countless matches for India, and were pivotal in India's success for a long period of time. Raina was an instrumental figure in India's triumph at the 2011 World Cup, playing crucial innings in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. They were both part of the Chennai Super Kings franchise, and became an inseparable duo.

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