Suresh Raina is a left-handed batsman from Uttar Pradesh and represented the Indian side on a regular basis in the recent past. He has had two stints with the Indian side; one during the times when Greg Chappell was the coach of the Indian side and was effusive in his support for the prodigy, and the second time when India had crashed out of the 2007 edition of the World Cup and then Dhoni had taken over as the captain of the side.

Raina is a diminutive batsman who relies a lot on his flicks, nudges and drives. But given a situation, he can hit the big shots as well despite his small frame. In fact, his smallness in stature is a total contrast to some of the powerful strokes he generates with a strong bottom hand. Sweeping the spinners away for sixes and smashing cricketers inside out for boundaries is a definite forte and Raina loves doing just that. Chappell’s interest in Raina had grown right from the time he had seen him bat in a couple of early games for India, and was a great backer in Raina’s abilities.

He was dropped from the side in early 2007, but soon made a comeback in 2008 for the Asia Cup. This was possible due to a strong showing for his IPL side, the Chennai Super Kings, under the captaincy of M.S.Dhoni. After that, he was picked to play in the Asia Cup. Here, he smashed a couple of centuries, and has never looked back since; scoring runs as consistently as would have been expected out of him.

However, the ICC World 2009 in England saw the opposition bowlers size him up with a barrage of short balls and there was enough evidence of Raina struggling against the bouncers. He had to fend off many a deliveries of his body and was getting caught in and around the pitch. He maintained his side in the side, but there was a clear indication from the selectors that his position was in a slight jeopardy as they went in with Rahul Dravid, someone who had not played international ODI cricket for two years.