Suresh Raina, Indian cricket's middle-order mainstay in the shorter versions of the game, slammed a freewheeling century on Test debut against Sri Lanka, on Thursday, making him the 12th Indian and 88th cricketer overall to achieve the feat. Often considered a specialist in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and T20 matches, Raina also anchored a shaky first innings for the Indians in the exalted company of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.



Suresh Raina smashed a century on debut against Sri Lanka in the 2nd Test at colombo. He is the ninth Indian to do score a ton on debut. Suresh Raina has proved his potential in ODI’s and yet again he has delivered in Test as well. Suresh Raina with Sachin Tendulkar made another record of highest 5th wickets partnership of 256 runs against Sri Lanka after he got caught by Sangakkara at short mid wicket.

A similar achievement marked Virendra Sehwag 9 years ago in a match played opposite to South Africa. The left hander was playing in place of Yuvraj Singh who was not well during the match. Suresh Raina has been consistently performing well on the field and is definitely entering a prime spot with his accomplishments.

The partnership has added 195* runs for India. The scoreboard currently reads 438/4 with Sachin Tendulkar batting on 131*(228). India currently trail by 205 runs.

India look on to build unbeaten 141-run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and debutant Suresh Raina on day 4 to register a comeback in second Test against Sri Lanka. Still trailing by 260 runs in first innings, India’s first target will be to score 60 runs to avoid yet another embarrassing follow-on in the current Test series.

Lala Amarnath, Abbas Ali Baig & Gundappa Viswanath have hit century on debut in second innings.It is interesting to note that Sehwag who was the previous player to score century on debut in 2001 had Sachin Tendulkar as the partner. Sachin is also the partner of Raina when he scored his test century on debut.

Tri - Series In Zimbabwe, 2010 : India vs Zimbabwe 1st ODI at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo at 12:30 P.M.



Suresh Raina, who will make his debut for the captain as many as eight senior players, including regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was rested in the tournament.

Zimbabwe should be an easy meat, even for a second string Indian team, but captain Suresh Raina and coach Gary Kirsten warned players not to underestimate the hosts in the tri-series opener. India last sent an entire page to Zimbabwe again in 2005-06.

Kirsten said: "that the absence of senior players gave a gilt-edged opportunity for youth to pursue their claims for the 2011 World Cup".

Kirsten said, "Of course we look primarily towards the next World Cup and it is the members of this team. It is now a chance to improve their chances of places and be sure that more will take their"

Team:
India : Suresh Raina (c), Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik,, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Naman Ojha (w), Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Vinay Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav

Zimbabwe : Hamilton Masakadza, Head Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu (w), Brendan Taylor, Charles Coventry, Andy Blignaut, Elton Chigumbura (c), Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervin, Gregory Lamb, Ed Rainford