Lucknow, Nov 17 (IANS): Indian cricketer Suresh Raina Monday joined Hockey India League (HIL) franchise Uttar Pradesh Wizards as its co-owner.

The announcement was made by Abhijit Sarkar of the Wizards here. Born in Ghaziabad, Raina has represented Uttar Pradesh at all levels in cricket.

“It is a memorable day for me because today I am immensely proud to be associated with the national sport of our country hockey by joining UP Wizards. On this occasion, I would also like to take the opportunity of congratulating the Indian hockey team for bringing laurels to our nation by winning the Asian Games gold after a span of 16 years and directly qualifying for the Olympics," said Raina.

"Uttar Pradesh is a land of world class hockey gems like Major Dhyan Chand, K.D. Singh Babu and many more to follow and since my sports college days in Lucknow, I have a lot of friends who are hockey players and this further boosts up my association with hockey. I will make all possible endeavours and bring all sorts of support required for uplifting the game of hockey in the region.”

Recently, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also got associated with the Ranchi franchise of HIL as its co-owner.