Suresh Raina is the prototype of the modern Indian cricketer. A native of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, he propelled his side to Ranji Trophy glory in the 2005-2006 season with 620 runs in just six games. Raina soon found himself included in India’s Test squad for the home series against England in 2006. However, the early success on the domestic circuit didn’t automatically translate into accomplishment at the international level. In 2007, Raina went through a phase where he found himself out of contention for a place in Team India.

Things changed for the better when he was selected for the CB series tour to Australia in early 2008 and he has never looked back since. He became a regular in the Indian ODI squad when in 2008, at the Asia Cup, he slammed two centuries and finished the second-highest run-getter in the tournament. After Sourav Ganguly retired from Test cricket and Yuvraj Singh struggled to lay claim to Ganguly’s position, Raina emerged as a worthy replacement by becoming only the 12th Indian batsman to hit a century on debut (against Sri Lanka in July 2010).  

But where Raina grabs maximum eyeballs is his performance in T20 cricket. In three seasons with the Chennai Super Kings - title-winners of IPL and CLT20 2010 - he has emerged one of the mainstays of the squad, turning in match-winning performances consistently. His value to the Super Kings was re-emphasised when he was named one among twelve players to be retained by their respective IPL franchises in 2010.

A swashbuckling left-handed batsman, Raina is also the only Indian batsman to have scored a T20I century, when he hit 101 against South Africa at Gros Islet, St Lucia, at the 2010 ICC T20 World Cup.  Critics, though, are yet to shower wholesome praise on Raina, pointing out to his fallibility against the short ball and quality fast bowling. But one can expect the talented young batsman to address those concerns in the near future.