SURESH RAINA PROFILE

Aged 15, Suresh Raina was spotted by Indian selectors playing for Uttar Pradesh under-16s and was drafted into India's under-19 tour of England where he notched two fifties. Aged 16, he made his first-class debut for Uttar Pradesh against Assam in February 2003, although didn't play another match until the following season.Following injuries to Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly he was selected for the Indian Oil Cup 2005 in Sri Lanka, but was dismissed for a golden duck on debut to Muttiah Muralidaran. Since then, Raina has enjoyed a love-hate relationship with the selectors on account of some hot-and-cold consistency. In June 2008, he was drafted into the side for the Kitply Cup but it wasn't until the subsequent Asia Cup that Raina showed what a potentially lethal batsman he can be. He scored two centuries and two half centuries in that series and thus sealed his reputation as clean striker of the ball. Since then he has been a regular in the ODI and Twenty20 International setup and has delivered on numerous occasions. He did, however, have a disastrous World Twenty20 2009, a series he will be looking to put behind him at the earliest.It is because of inconsistent performances like this that the selectors have not shown faith in him for the longest version of the game. Raina is more of an attacking cricketer that may come across as reckless at times because of his affinity for fast runs. He is a vital member of his Chennai franchise in the IPL and an extremely sharp fielder.