MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina both retired on August 15. Dhoni called time on his career first before Raina followed him. Both were the pillars of India’s limited-overs set-up for quite a few years. The two even played together for 10 seasons of IPL for Chennai Super Kings. Both, however, are likely to play for IPL 2020, which is set to start in September.
The two have combined to put many match-winning partnerships together. Here’s a list of few of them.
1) India vs Zimbabwe - 196-run partnership – 2015 World Cup
India was struggling at 92/4 chasing 288 for a win. Dhoni and Raina then combined to bail the team out of trouble, putting 196-run unfinished stand to take India home. Raina and Dhoni took their time to settle down, running hard between the wickets to take singles and twos.
But as the partnership grew, their confidence also raised, and they started going for the big hits to lower down the required run-rate, and finally stealing a win with 8 balls to spare. Raina remained not out on 110, while Dhoni finished at 85 not out.
2) 118-run partnership – India vs England ODI – 2006
India was down and out at 92/5 chasing 227 for a win. Dhoni and Raina were the last standing pair for India. And the two came good again to chase down a target. Raina was the leading partner of this chase, remaining not out on 81 from 89 balls with 8 fours and 1 six. Dhoni contributed 38 to the partnership but fell just before the finish line. But Raina remained unbeaten till the end to see the team through.
3) 71-run partnership – CSK vs Rajasthan Royals - 2009
The two were the pillars of Chennai Super Kings for 10 seasons. And they performed brilliantly in pair. In the 2009 IPL, the two came together in the 13th over of the match against Rajasthan Royals to put the team to a competitive total. At 88/4, Dhoni-Raina posted 71-run stand in 6.5 overs to steer the team to 164/5. Raina scored a brilliant 98 off 55 balls with 10 fours and 5 sixes while Dhoni contributed 22 not out. CSK then bowled out RR for 126 to win the match by 38 runs.
4) 82-run partnership – India vs SL ODI – 2005
India was sailing in the ODI at Pune at 176/3 in 31 overs chasing 262 for a win. But India lost three quick wickets to slump to 180/6 before Raina came out to bat at No 8 to join Dhoni to steer the team to win. Raina-Dhoni then put their heads down, ran hard for singles and twos, reducing the risks to settle for a win without any hiccups. Dhoni contributed 45 not out, while Raina made 39 not out.
Cover Credits: Sportzwiki
