Suresh Raina

Profile

The gradual moulding of young southpaw Suresh Raina, as an accomplished batsman in all forms of the game, is a perfect case study for the Indian selectors to focus on developing world-beaters instead of expecting to chance upon them.

Making his debut as an 18-year-old, Raina's inexperience showed as he succumbed to a first-ball Muttiah Muralidaran googly in 2005. But a determined effort to validate his selection soon hallmarked his approach. Often, after disappointments at the international level, Raina came back with strong domestic displays in Ranjis and the IPL to knock hard on selection doors. When he returned after being dropped for a year-and-half in 2008, three centuries and a dozen half-centuries marked his renewed desire to make the most of opportunities, an intent highlighted by three stand-out knocks in the 2008 Asia Cup. By the time Raina made his commanding century on Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2010, he already had ample limited overs experience with nearly a 100 ODIs, three successful seasons of the IPL and a captaincy stint; all at the age of 23!

In 2011, he was amongst the 15 Indian players who saw history being created at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, where the Men in Blue lifted the coveted World Cup trophy after 28 long years. Raina was always in and around the playing eleven, sometimes as a substitute fielder taking important catches and otherwise scoring valuable runs with the bat.

In everything that Suresh Raina does on the field, there is an underlying sincerity that is all too visible. In each shot - both explosive and deft - Raina's confidence is evident. Even when he seems to struggle, it's brazen for all to observe. Excellent fielding abilities reflect a mantra of compensating any possible short-coming in skill with a raging will to fight and win. It's that trait which has formed a common thread among most players who emerged under MS Dhoni, co-incidentally or otherwise!

Fast Facts

• Suresh Raina was awarded a Border-Gavaskar scolarship in 2004 to train at the Australian Cricket Academy.
• He became the third overall and the first Indian to score a T20I century (101 vs South Africa in the 2010 World T20).
• Raina was the 12th Indian to score a century on Test debut.
• He became the fourth batsman to score a century in all three formats of cricket after Gayle, McCullum and Jayawardena.

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Career

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