Bengaluru, April 28: Gujarat Lions captain Suresh Raina had a very young supporter as he led his side against favourites Royal Challengers Bangalore in their league match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017.
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The young fan was none other than Raina's young daughter Gracia, who was attending her first IPL match. [Highlights]
His daughter proved to be a lucky charm for Raina as his team registered an emphatic win against Virat Kohli-led RCB.
In what could be termed as icing on the cake, Raina won the Orange Cap after his 34-run knock against RCB.
Raina completed 309* runs from 8 games he has played so far and became leading run getter in the tournament to earn the Orange Cap.
Gujarat restricted Bangalore to 134 and achieved the modest target of 135 in 13.5 overs for the loss of three wickets. They finished the game with 37 balls to spare.
After winning the match, Raina shared an adorable image with his daughter and dedicated the win to her.
"Much needed win for @TheGujaratLions and an orange cap! This one goes to you #Gracia 😘 #GameMaariChhe #IPL2017 #Graciasfirstmatch," wrote Raina.
Later in an interview to IPLT20.com, Raina praised former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif, who also hails from Uttar Pradesh, and termed the latter as his idol.
Raina called Kaif, who is now the assistant coach of Gujarat Lions, one of the nicest guys around.
Congratulations Papa @ImRaina and @TheGujaratLions. You made my first match totally worth it! 😘 pic.twitter.com/sj8DypnzP1
— Priyanka C Raina (@_PriyankaCRaina) April 27, 2017
"I've played a lot with him, and the best thing about Kaif is that he is one of the nicest persons. He gave me and a lot of other youngsters like Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, RP Singh, Sudeep Tyagi and Bhuvneshwar Kumar a lot of confidence," Raina said.
Gujarat next play against Mumbai Indians on Saturday (April 29) at their home ground in Rajkot. They need to win all their matches if they want to book a spot in the playoffs as their journey in the tournament hasn't been smooth.
OneIndia News