No competition for Raina

Takes apart Somerset attack during his unbeaten 103,seals No.6 spot for first Test at Lords.

About a year ago,Suresh Raina was named Indias stand-in ODI captain for the first time. Last month,he led India to a 3-2 triumph in the West Indies. In the subsequent Test series,he scored a half-century in each of the three Tests. The 24-year-old has scored a ton in his first Test and after 11 games has an average of 37.81.

Still,when Raina landed in England,he was seen as the weakest link in the refurbished Indian middle order. And as usual,there was a question mark over his place in the side.

During the debate over the batting line-up for the first Test at Lords,the sequence was predictable; that is,until it reached No.6. The list-makers would write Abhinav Mukund,Gautam Gambhir,Rahul Dravid,Sachin Tendulkar,VVS Laxman,pause for a while and go on to scribble Suresh Raina/Yuvraj Singh before naming MS Dhoni at No.7 and then breaking their heads over the bowlers.

After Indias World Cup campaign,where Yuvraj could do no wrong,the left-hander had earned his Test recall. With the euphoria over his Man of the Tournament not quite dead,there was this talk that he would walk into the playing XI.

Debate over

But on the final day of the tour game against Somerset,Raina ended the ambiguity surrounding the No.6 slot and cemented his position in the lower middle order.

His unbeaten 103 112 balls; 5215;6,14215;4 saw the Indians finishing at a respectable 224 in the first innings after they were 138/8 at the end of Day 2. Rainas whirlwind knock didnt just see him making a point to Indias think tank but also to his rivals. His brutal assault ended the Somerset bowlers dream run and gave the locals a glimpse of Indias entertaining brand of batting.

Raina adopted an approach that was way too different from his team mates. He took his chances and it worked for him. Unbeaten on 30 at the end of days play on Saturday,when he witnessed the Indian batting collapse from the non-strikers end,Rainas bat swung around more than it came down straight on Sunday.

Early luck

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He enjoyed early luck as one lofted shot fell quite close to the mid-on fielder and an edge flew over the wicketkeeper.

Raina didnt waste the providence bestowed on him. He slashed the pacers over point,slog-swept them over the midwicket boundary and even lifted a few balls inside out into the stands behind extra cover. The county bowlers,who had looked potential England prospects on Saturday,now seemed club amateurs. In contrast,Raina seemed in the best frame of mind to take on the England pacers,come Thursday.

Different ball game

But the big question is: Can Raina stick to the plan against the England bowlers? That seems highly unlikely. Andrew Strauss has at his disposal a pace department that will seriously test Rainas skills. In case he drives away from the body as he did on Sunday,he will find it tough to survive against James Andersons precise swing. He will also do well to keep the slog-sweep safely under lock for the limited overs game.

Raina did pull the short deliveries expertly but against the menacingly climbing balls from the vertically-blessed Chris Tremlett and Stuart Broad,he will require faster reflexes and greater confidence.

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Leaving the balls and grinding it out is what has historically worked in England. Since West Indies happens to be only the second country away from the sub-continent that Raina has visited as a Test player,his ability to face an unrelenting pace attack under testing conditions will be once again under scrutiny like it was ahead of the first Test against South Africa in Centurion. He made 1 and 5 in that game in December before making way for Cheteshwar Pujara.

Despite the fours and sixes,the question mark just doesnt leave Raina.