Indian Premier League: Excited to play for Rajkot, says Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina was picked by Rajkot in the IPL players' draft held in Mumbai on Tuesday

Suresh Raina, who played for the Chennai Super Kings right from the inception of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 to 2015, has found a new home but the powerful left-handed batsman said he was excited about the new challenge. Raina was picked by Rajkot in Tuesday's player draft held in Mumbai.  

Raina was one of only two Indians picked by Rajkot. He will be joined by India teammate and former Chennai Super Kings colleague Ravindra Jadeja. It could be an entirely new feeling for the Uttar Pradesh batsman, who has played under good friend Mahendra Singh Dhoni for eight editions of the glitzy T20 league. Dhoni was picked by Pune.

"Excited to play for the beautiful vibrant city - Rajkot in IPL (2016 and 2017). Looking forward to have new teammates and support from the people of Gujarat," Raina tweeted after the draft ended.
Raina is the most successful IPL batsman of all time and was the only player to aggregate over 400 runs in each season of the T20 tournament till 2014 - he amassed 374 runs from 17 games in 2015. Raina boasts of 3699 runs from 132 matches with one hundred and 25 half-centuries.