Suresh Raina - 6 Top notch knocks in ODIs

#3 India vs England, 2005-06, 2nd ODI, Nahar Singh Stadium, Faridabad, 81*

This was probably the start of a Raina-Dhoni partnership that enabled India to win many games

Another top knock of Suresh Raina in ODI cricket that has England involved in it. This series was a six-game affair and was expected to be a very interesting battle. It was early days for Suresh Raina, the international cricketer, as he was not even one year old in international cricket. It is always tough to face a top side like England in your early days of international cricket.

In the second game of the series in Faridabad, Suresh Raina not only faced the likes of Anderson, Flintoff and Plunkett with enormous ease, but he also showed early glimpses of what everyone can expect from Suresh Raina, the cricketer.

England opted to bat first, a decision that might have been taken considering the inability to chase a target of 204 in the previous ODI. They managed 226, thanks to the fifties from Strauss and Pietersen. A target close to 240-250 was not a cakewalk those days, hence India needed a good start to win the game.

Though India got a solid opening partnership of 61 runs between Sehwag and Gambhir, the floodgates opened once Sehwag was dismissed. It was soon followed by Gambhir and Dravid, and a little while later, Yuvraj and Kaif had fallen, leaving India in a hopeless situation.

At 92/5, two youngsters in Raina and Dhoni were out at the middle. Not many fans would have given India a chance at that juncture, with only Irfan Pathan left as a player who could bat. One more wicket at that time and India would have been done and dusted. A young Suresh Raina, along with a calm MS Dhoni, probably had other ideas.

This was again one of the occasions where Raina and Dhoni won the game for India through their partnership. It was probably the start of a long and fantastic association between these two. They shared a superb 118 run stand that took the game away from England. They not only won that particular game for India, but a hero in Suresh Raina had emerged that night, thanks to his magnificent 81 off 89 balls which included eight hits to the fence and a solitary six. He had a calm Dhoni at the other end, who made a supporting 38 off 55 balls with a couple of boundaries to his name. Except for Dhoni's 38, no other player managed to touch the 30s and it was one of those days were Raina was way ahead compared to his teammates, as his 81 had solidity, class and sensibility written all over it.

Again, Suresh Raina got the Player of the Match award for his unconquered 81 off 89 balls. One of the fabulous Suresh Raina moments in the history of the Indian ODI team.