'Proud moment': Wishes pour in for Raina for bagging 'Sports Icon' award from Maldives Govt

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina was recently felicitated with the prestigious 'Sports Icon' award at the Maldives Sports Awards 2022 by the Maldives government. 

The Chennai Super King (CSK) star was nominated alongside 16 international sportspersons, including former Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, former Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos, Jamaican Sprinter Asafa Powell and Dutch football legend Edgar Davids.

The all-rounder, who was recognised for his various achievements throughout his cricketing career, was handed over the award in the presence of Md. Zahir Ahsan Russel, the Minister of Youth and Sports of Bangladesh; Al-Kadi Badr Abdul Rahman, the Vice Minister of Sports of Saudi Arabia; Ahmed Nazeer, the Honorary President of the Maldives Tennis Association.

The Maldives Sports Awards 2022, held on March 17 at the Synthetic Running Track in Male, was followed by a musical show that saw several local favourites and guest singers from India showcase their talent.

Raina played a crucial role in Team India's 2011 World Cup-winning campaign and won the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy four times with CSK. He is the first Indian player to score over 8000 runs in the shortest format of the game and the first-ever cricketer to reach 5,000 runs in the showpiece T20 league. He also holds the record for scoring the most fifties in Champions League T20 history.

Also read: The Kashmir Files: 10 times Suresh Raina expressed pride in being a Kashmiri

Following this feat, several fans of the cricketer took to Twitter to congratulate Raina on his achievement. Among those was Jammu and Kashmir cop Ajaz Choudhary who called the feat a 'proud moment'. Raina, a Kashmiri Pandit, has lately hit the headlines urging people to watch Vivek Agnihotri's 'The Kashmir Files' and raise their voice for the Right To Justice.