Suresh Raina felicitated with 'Sports Icon' award by Government of Maldives

Suresh Raina. Pic/AFP

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina was felicitated with the prestigious 'Sports Icon' award at the Maldives Sports Awards 2022 by the Maldives government. He was nominated alongside 16 international sportspersons, including former Real Madrid player Roberto Carlos, Jamaican Sprinter Asafa Powell, former Sri Lankan captain and cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya and Dutch football legend Edgar Davids.

Raina was presented with the award for his various achievements throughout his career. He was presented with the award in 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 event was chaired by the President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Sports Ministers, world-renowned athletes and Maldivian athletes. Spearheaded by the minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Ahmed Mahloof, the Maldives Sports Awards 2022 was aimed at restructuring the historical awards ceremony as a national endeavour. Mahloof stated that he intends this awards ceremony to be a consistent, yearly event, to properly give credit, support, and recognition to the athletes in various sports.

According to a release, the Maldives Sports Awards 2022 was held late evening on March 17 at the Synthetic Running Track in Male and was followed up by a music show the next night, with talented bands and musicians that include local favourites as well guest singers from India.

The Maldives President honoured Saudi Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal with the "Maldives Sports Award" for 2022 for his efforts in developing Saudi sports and striving to achieve the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. He was honoured also for his support for sports in the Maldives in a way that promotes ways of joint cooperation between the two friendly countries.

Raina is known for aiding the Indian cricket team to its World Cup glory back in 2011 and has also won the Indian Premier League(IPL) trophy four times with the Chennai Super Kings(CSK) franchise. He is the first Indian player to score 6000 as well as 8000 runs in a Twenty20 career and the first-ever cricketer to reach 5,000 runs in IPL. He also holds the record for scoring the most fifties in Champions League T20 history.

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