Suresh Raina, with his 120 off 228 balls, against Sri Lanka at Colombo (SSC) has accomplished a rare feat for India in Tests. Here's a statistical analysis by Rajesh Kumar.

Raina is the fourth left-handed batsman to post a hundred on debut for India, joining Deepak Shodhan (110 vs. Pakistan at Kolkata in December 1952), Surinder Amarnath (124 vs. New Zealand at Auckland in January 1976) and Sourav Ganguly (131 vs. England at Lord's in June 1996)

Overall, Raina is the 12th Indian batsman to accomplish the feat and the ninth to do so in the first innings.

Raina is the first Indian and the second left-hander after Pakistan's Fawad Alam to register a hundred on Test debut against Sri Lanka.

Raina is one of the five batsmen - all from Asia - to have recorded a hundred on debut against Sri Lanka.  Pakistan's Salim Malik, Younis Khan and Fawad Alam and Bangladesh's Mohammad Ashraful had achieved the feat before Suresh Raina.

Lala Amarnath, with 38 & 118 against England at Gymkhana Ground, Mumbai in December 1933, was the first to achieve the distinction. The cricketing bible, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack had recorded his innings as 'a particularly fine effort for a first appearance against England. His 186-run stand for the third wicket with C.K.Nayudu turned out to be the highest partnership of the Test match.

The first Indian batsman to post a hundred in the first innings of his first Test was Deepak Shodhan.  He came in to bat at No.8 with the total reading 179 for six in response to Pakistan's 257 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in December 1952.

A.G.Kripal Singh (100 not out) had accomplished the feat against New Zealand at Fateh Maidan, Hyderabad, Deccan in November 1955 to become the third Indian to post a hundred on debut, enabling Polly Umrigar (223) to add 171 for the fourth wicket.

The first Indian to register a hundred on debut overseas - and the fourth overall - was Abbas Ali Baig (26 & 112), achieving the distinction against England at Old Trafford, Manchester in July 1959.

Hanumant Singh, with his splendid 105 off 230 balls, an innings embellished with sixteen fours, against England at Feroz Shah Kotla in February 1964, was the next to record the feat.

Gundappa Viswanath (0 & 137) had become the first and only one in Test annals to register a century and a duck on Test debut - against Australia at Green Park, Kanpur in November 1969.  Just for the record, he is the only Indian to hit 25 fours while posting a hundred on debut.

Surinder Amarnath (124), while posting a hundred on debut against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland in January 1976, had accomplished two feats.  He had become the first Indian to share a double century stand on debut 204 for the second wicket with Sunil Gavaskar apart from providing the first combination of father-son to achieve the distinction.

Mohammad Azharuddin (110) was the next to perform the feat with his 110 off 322 balls against England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 1984-85.

Pravin Amre, the third Indian to register the feat overseas, recorded a hundred on debut (103 off 299 balls) against South Africa at Durban in November 1992.  The game was a historical importance for South Africa - their first home Test since March 1970 apart from including the first non-white player in the team, Omar Henry. This was also the first Test between India and South Africa besides the first ever instance of using television replays to settle awkward line decisions.

The tenth Indian and the third left-hander to record the feat was Sourav Ganguly, posting 131 off 301 balls against England at Lord's in June 1996.  Another debutant, Rahul Dravid (95) fell short of his hundred by just five runs.  Had Dravid posted a hundred, it would have been the first instance of two debutant centurions in the same team in a Test.

Virender Sehwag had become the second Indian batsman to post a century on debut against South Africa - 105 off 173 balls at Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein in November 2001 at number six - the only hundred of his Test career while not opening the innings.   His stand of 220 for the fifth wicket had remained a record by a debutant for India, until surpassed by Suresh Raina with his 256 for the fifth wicket with Sachin Tendulkar - the highest by any pair against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.

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