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Suresh Kumar Raina ( pronunciation (help·info) (born 27 November 1986) is an Indian cricketer from Gaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. His family comes from a town of Rainawari, in Jammu & Kashmir,thus the surname "Raina".^[1] Raina has been a member of the Indian cricket team for ODIs since July 2008, and was included in the Test squad in early 2006, but did not make his debut until July 2010. Domestically, he plays for Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy and Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He is a left-handed batsman and an occasional off spinner.

Personal life[link]

Raina decided to take up cricket seriously in 1999, and moved from his city Muradnagar, Ghaziabad, UP (near New Delhi) to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, to attend the specialist government Sports College.^[2] He rose to become the captain of the Uttar Pradesh U-16s came to prominence amongst Indian selectors in 2002, when he was selected at the age of 15 and a half years for the U-19 tour to England, where he made a pair of half-centuries in the U-19 Test matches.^[3] He toured Sri Lanka later that year with the U-17 team. He made his Ranji Trophy debut for Uttar Pradesh against Assam in February 2003 at the age of 16, but did not play another match until the following season. In late 2003, he toured Pakistan for the U-19 Asian ODI Championship before being selected for the 2004 U-19 World Cup, where he scored three half centuries, including a 90 scored off only 38 balls. He was then awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship to train at the Australian Cricket Academy and in early 2005, he made his first-class limited overs debut, and scored 645 runs that season at an average of 53.75.^[4] He was selected to participate in the Challenger Series in early 2005,^[5] and after injury to Sachin Tendulkar and suspension to captain Sourav Ganguly, Raina was selected for the Indian Oil Cup 2005 in Sri Lanka.^[6]

Career[link]

Early international career[link]

Raina bowling in the nets

Raina had a difficult start to his international career, being dismissed first ball by Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.^[7] After scoring 37 runs in the tournament at an average of 12.33, and with the return of Ganguly from suspension, Raina was omitted from the starting XI for the tour of Zimbabwe. With Ganguly being sacked after a row with Indian coach Greg Chappell and Mohammed Kaif injured, Raina played in five of the matches against Sri Lanka in India, mostly as a supersub, and made a cameo 39 not out to guide the team to victory in the fourth ODI. He was again watching from the sidelines in the series against South Africa after Kaif's return and Gautam Gambhir forced his entry into the team with a century, but got another chance to become a regular member of the Indian middle order during the 2010 tour of Pakistan, after vice-captain Virender Sehwag returned home injured. He was only required to bat in one match, in which he helped guide the latter part of the successful run chase in the fourth ODI.

Upon his return to India, he was called up to the Test squad, at the expense of former captain Ganguly, although he did not play in the Test series against England. He earned his first man of the match award in the subsequent ODI series after scoring an unbeaten 81* in a successful run-chase at Faridabad. After scoring two more half-centuries in the series at an average of 48, Raina was awarded a BCCI C-grade contract.^[8] He was selected for both squads for the tour to the West Indies, but did not make his Test debut.

After a poor run in the Malaysia Tri-Series in September and in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, Raina was relegated to the bench midway through the ODI tour of South Africa. This spread to the Test team, where he was dropped from the squad altogether despite the injury to Yuvraj Singh, with Ganguly and Dinesh Karthik being recalled to the team. In January 2008, Raina was recalled to the team and toured Australia for a limited overs campaign, but did not play in any of India's 10 ODIs or the one-off T20 international.

After a strong IPL season in 2008, Raina broke back into the XI for a triangular ODI tournament in Bangladesh when senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar was rested from the competition.

On 25 June 2008, he scored his maiden hundred against Hong Kong during the 2008 Asia Cup. His 66 balls hundred was at the time, the second fastest century in Indian ODI history.^[9] He scored 84 of 69 against Pakistan and 116 of 107 against Bangladesh, in next two matches. Hence, he won man of the match award successively three times.^[10][11] Since then, Raina has been a member of India's full-strength ODI and T20 team.

2010 World Twenty20[link]

During the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies, Raina was criticised for a perceived weakness against the short ball. With his 101 from 60 balls with five sixes and nine fours in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 against South Africa on 2 May 2010, he became the third player to score a Twenty20 international century after the West Indies' Chris Gayle and New Zealand's Brendon McCullum. He then missed the ODI series in the West Indies because of injury. In January 2010, Raina scored 106 from 115 balls in the final of the triangular ODI tournament against Sri Lanka in Bangladesh. His innings took India to 245 after they collapsed to 5/60, but it was not enough to save the match.

2010 South Africa tour of India[link]

In South Africa's tour of India in 2010, Raina was called in the squad for the second test, but was not selected in the playing XI. He captained the Indian team for the Tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe as all the other first-choice players were rested from the tournament. India lost the first match under his captaincy against Zimbabwe by six wickets, but won the next match against Sri Lanka. The Indians then lost their remaining two matches and did not make the final.

2010 tour of Sri Lanka[link]

Raina was then brought into the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in July and August 2010. He made his debut in the Second Test after Yuvraj Singh was ill. Sri Lanka made 4/642 declared and India were in trouble at 4/241 when Raina came in to join Sachin Tendulkar. Raina went on to reach a century on debut as the pair put on a double century partnership. Yuvraj recovered in time for the Third Test but the selectors opted to retain Raina. However, poor form throughout 2010-2011, including a failure to make any impact on the Centurion Test which South Africa won by an innings, he was dropped in favour of rookie Cheteshwar Pujara for the remainder of the series, in which India battled back to draw 1-1.

2011 Cricket World Cup[link]

He was on the bench through the first half of the 2011 Cricket World Cup as captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni went with the in-form Yusuf Pathan. This remained so until the group game against West Indies, which he started due to an injury to Virender Sehwag. He started against defending champions Australia in the quarter-finals as Dhoni made a strategic change, omitting Yusuf Pathan in favour of Raina. Raina responded by assisting Yuvraj Singh in a successful run chase through high pressure, making 34 from 28 balls to carry India to victory. In the semi-final against Pakistan, he batted with tailenders and scored unbeaten 36 runs without which India would have been hard pressed to bowl Pakistan out, as they ultimately did. He also fielded well in this game, taking the catch which completed Younis Khan's dismissal of Yuvraj's over.^[12] He took another catch in the final against Sri Lanka, and did not have to bat.

2011 tour of the West Indies[link]

After the World Cup Raina took over as captain of the ODI side for the tour of the West Indies after Dhoni opted to rest and Gambhir was injured. India won the series, but Raina averaged just 16.4. In the Test matches he scored 232 runs at the average of 46.4 making crucial fifties in each Test.

2011 tour of England[link]

He was selected for the England tour in July. There was a lot of debate whether who should play in first test at Lord's, Yuvraj or Raina. But a century in a practice match against Somerset sealed a place for him in the playing eleven. Aside from a half-century in the first Test at Lord's, Raina managed just 27 runs from seven innings. He struggled against short bowling and in the final Test was out for a 29-ball duck, the longest in India's Test history.^[13][14]

Raina running through a poor form in the Test series especially in the last match made some impact in the 5 match-ODI series though the team was unable to secure a win at all.He top-scored in a rain-affected game at the Lord's scoring a commendable 84 from 111 balls.In the first One Day International he scored 88, but fell to steven Finn.

Indian Premier League[link]

Suresh Raina was signed by the Chennai Super Kings for $650,000 for the first three years of the tournament.

Raina made significant contributions in the first edition of the tournament to compensate the Chennai Super Kings over the losses of key players in Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Jacob Oram. He played a vital MOTM performance in the last league fixture to give Chennai Super Kings the win they required to qualify for the semi-finals. Ultimately the Super Kings finished as the runners-up of the league with Raina with 421 scoring the most runs for them.

Raina found form in the 2009 IPL scoring 434 runs off the 14 games he had played at a strike rate over 140.00.He made a sensational 98 runs from 55 balls (losing his century due to scoring errors) against the Rajasthan Royals at Centurion.He was the fourth leading-run getter of the tournament and second for the Super kings behind Orange-cap holder Matthew Hayden.Raina also became the fifth economical bowler of the tournament taking 7 wickets in all.

Again in 2010 IPL, Raina's consistent batting throughout the series won him applause and became the all-time run-getter of the league surpassing Australian legend Adam Gilchrist halfway down the tournament.He also captained the Super Kings for three matches in skipper Dhoni's absence and took some sensational catches in the field. He scored 520 runs in all, making him the third highest-run getter of the series and the first for Chennai. He also was awarded the "best fielder award" by the BCCI ahead of the finals.^[15] He played a vital half-century which turned the final to Chennai's tide who ultimately went on to become the champions beating the Mumbai Indians.

At the end of the season,Raina set the record for scoring the most no. of runs in the tournament, with 421, 434, and 520 and also taking the most no. of catches, two records that are still to be broken.^[16] Raina also had hit the second maximum no. of sixes behind Adam Gilchrist in the three editions of the league. He was retained by the Super Kings for the 2011 Indian Premier League along with Murali Vijay, Albie Morkel and skipper Dhoni.

In the 2011 IPL too, Suresh Raina maintained his reputation as the leading run-scorer with 438 runs, again being the only player to cross 400 do so for all the four seasons.His most crucial knock came against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Qualifier where he played a stunning innings to get the game back to Chennai's favor.

Achievements[link]

Test Centuries[link]

Num	Score	Balls	4s	6s	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
1	120	228	12	2	Sri Lanka	Colombo	2 July 2010	Won

ODI Centuries[link]

Num	Score	Balls	4s	6s	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
1	101	68	7	5	Hong Kong	Karachi	25 June 2008	Won
2	116*	107	11	3	Bangladesh	Karachi	28 June 2008	Won
3	106	115	10	1	Sri Lanka	Dhaka	13 Jan 2010	Lost

T20I Centuries[link]

Num	Score	Balls	4s	6s	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
1	101	60	9	5	South Africa	Gros Islet	2 May 2010	Won

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Suresh Raina

• Player profile: Suresh Raina from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Suresh Raina from CricketArchive
• Suresh Kumar Raina on Twitter

v t e India squad – 2006 ICC Champions Trophy 1 Dravid 2 Tendulkar 3 Agarkar 4 Dhoni 5 Harbhajan Singh 6 Kaif 7 Mongia 8 Patel 9 Pathan 10 Powar 11 Raina 12 Sehwag 13 R. P. Singh 14 Sreesanth 15 Yuvraj Singh Coach: G Chappell

v t e India squad – 2009 ICC World Twenty20 3 Harbhajan 7 Dhoni(c) 45 Rohit 12 Yuvraj 84 Jadeja 28 Yusuf 5 Gambhir 30 Ojha 9 R. P. Singh 29 Ishant 48 Raina 46 Sehwag 63 Irfan 34 Zaheer 1 Karthik 8 Praveen Coach: Kirsten

v t e India squad – 2010 ICC World Twenty20 3 Harbhajan 7 Dhoni(c) 45 Rohit 12 Yuvraj 26 Jadeja 28 Yusuf 5 Gambhir 24 Chawla 08 Vijay 64 Nehra 48 Raina 46 Yadav 23 Vinay 34 Zaheer 1 Karthik 8 Praveen Coach: Kirsten Praveen Kumar was injured and replaced by Umesh Yadav halfway through the tournament.

v t e India squad – 2011 Cricket World Cup (2nd Title) 3 Harbhajan 5 Gambhir 7 Dhoni (c & wk) 10 Tendulkar 11 Chawla 12 Yuvraj 13 Munaf 18 Kohli 28 Yusuf 34 Zaheer 36 Sreesanth 44 Sehwag 48 Raina 64 Nehra 66 Ashwin Coach: Kirsten Praveen Kumar was injured and replaced by Sreesanth.

Billy Bowden

Personal information
Full name	Brent Fraser Bowden
Born	(1963-04-11) 11 April 1963 (age 49) Henderson, New Zealand
Nickname	Billy
Umpiring information
Tests umpired	70 (2000–present)
ODIs umpired	165 (1995–present)
T20Is umpired	19 (2005–present)
Career statistics
Source: Cricinfo, 4 February 2012

Brent Fraser "Billy" Bowden (born 11 April 1963) is an international cricket umpire from New Zealand. He was a player until he began to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and took up umpiring. He is well known for his dramatic signalling style which includes "crooked finger of doom" out signal.^[1]

Career[link]

In March 1995 Bowden officiated his first One Day International between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Hamilton. In March 2000 he was appointed his first Test match as an on-field umpire, and in 2002 he was included in the Emirates Panel of International Umpires. A year later he was asked to umpire at the Cricket World Cup in South Africa, and was chosen to be the fourth umpire in the final between Australia and India. Shortly after this he was duly promoted to the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, of which he is still a member. He reprised his role as fourth umpire in the 2007 Cricket World Cup final and was involved in the wrong decision that caused the match to end in darkness.^[2] Bowden was involved in an incident at the 2006 Brisbane Ashes test while standing at the square leg fielding position, when knocked to the ground by a ball hit by Geraint Jones.^[3] In January 2007, Bowden became the youngest umpire to officiate in 100 ODIs during the New Zealand and Sri Lanka match at Hamilton, which corresponded exactly with his first ODI in 1995. Simon Taufel bettered that record a few days later.

Signals[link]

Suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, it was too painful for Bowden to signal a batsman out in the conventional fashion,^[4] with a straight index finger raised above the head, and this led to the "crooked finger of doom". He has also put his own slant on several other signals, including a "crumb-sweeping" wave of the arm to signal four, and the "double crooked finger six-phase hop" to signal a six. His signals are sedate in Tests, more flashy in ODIs and decidedly flamboyant in Twenty20. His behavior has attracted him both fans and critics alike. Martin Crowe has referred to him as Bozo the Clown,^[4] and at least one commentator has said he should remember that cricket is for the players and fans, not for the umpires.^[5] However there was the suggestion that he needs to do the signals in the way he does because of his arthritis, as he needs to keep his body fluid.^[4]

International Umpiring Statistics[link]

As of 4 February 2012:^[6]

	First	Latest	Total
Tests	New Zealand v  Australia at Auckland, Mar 2000	England v  Pakistan at Dubai, January 2012	70
ODIs	New Zealand v  Sri Lanka at Hamilton, Mar 1995	India v  Sri Lanka at Sydney, February 2012	165
T20Is	New Zealand v  Australia at Auckland, Feb 2005	New Zealand v  Pakistan at Auckland, Dec 2010	19

Awards

ICC Bronze Bails Award for 100 ODIs.

References[link]

1. ^ Billy Bowden Signaling Style Photos
2. ^ Malcolm Conn (2007-05-02). "Neutral umpires have failed". www.theaustralian.news.com.au The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21656083-5001505,00.html. Retrieved 2008-12-16. 
3. ^ "Quick Singles: Jones 1 Bowden 0". Cricinfo. http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/newzealand/content/story/269761.html. Retrieved 2007-03-22. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Bowden breaks the mould". news.bbc.co.uk BBC. 2003-08-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/test_match_special/3135395.stm. Retrieved 2007-03-22. 
5. ^ Malcolm Conn (2007-01-05). "Bumble Bowden should be humble". www.theaustralian.news.com.au The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21012467-23212,00.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-16. 
6. ^ "Billy Bowden | New Zealand Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials". ESPN Cricinfo. http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/content/player/36339.html. Retrieved 2011-10-14. 

External links[link]

• Billy Bowden at Cricinfo.
• [1] - Podcast site of the Beige Brigade