He has often been unfairly termed as a limited-over specialist who doesn’t have the technique and/or the temperament for longer format. But Suresh Raina has never had any qualms in reiterating his longing to be remembered as a good Test cricketer.

A day before the ongoing Irani Cup tie, Raina made his goal of playing “at least 50-60 Tests” public and swore that he will do any amount of hard work to get there. At the first opportunity he got after that, the 26 year-old put his words to practice by notching up his 11th first-class century on the second day of the match.

Raina’s 134-run knock enabled Rest of India to a first-innings total of 526, which was a necessity against the power-packed Mumbai batting. En route his century, Raina stitched a 153-run partnership with Abhimanyu Mithun for the seventh wicket.

“I had a good partnership with Mithun. I trusted him fully and he batted well,” Raina said at the end of the second day’s play at the Wankhede Stadium. “Even in my debut Test I remember he scored some 50-odd runs. Today we had good communication going with each other.”

Coming in mostly at No.6 for India in the ODIs, Raina has shown tremendous skill in batting with the lower-order on a consistent basis. The southpaw admitted that experience held him in good stead during his stand with Mithun.

“I bat at number six or seven and I know how to bat with tail-enders,” Raina said. “Over the years I have learnt that art from my seniors like [MS] Dhoni, Yuvraj [Singh] and Michael Hussey.

“It's always good to trust your partner, especially when you have to bat till the end with No. 7, 8 and 9 batsman. I have learnt a lot in that regards from the ODIs. So whenever I bat at number six, I am confident of putting a lot of runs on the board with the tail,” he explained.

Raina’s innings was a fine melange of discretion and intent. While backing his natural aggressive instincts – his strike-rate was 79.28 – he also avoided taking excessive risks that he might, chasing a big total in a one-day game. The way he handled Mumbai’s premier pacer, Dhawal Kulkarni, was testament to Raina’s clear head.

“Dhawal was bowling very well and I just looked to be calmer and more technically sound against him,” he said. “I decided to just hang in there against him because he was bowling accurately.”

“When I got 36 last night I was telling myself to bat till Tea and want thinking about hitting sixes or over covers. I was just trying to be solid and calm.

“I was telling myself not to play big shots because I knew I could play 180 balls and easily I will get 140-150. That was my game plan. I’m glad I did that,” he revealed. Eyeing a spot in India’s squad for the forthcoming home Test series against Australia, Raina also stressed the need to convert the centuries into big scores.

“It’s important for me to score big hundreds to have a temperament for Test cricket,” he said. “I have done that in the past and have scored double hundreds in first-class cricket. Scoring big runs at this level definitely helps your batting at the international level.”

Raina had gone into this game with a Man-of-the-Series winning performance in the ODI series against England. He was glad to be able to convert his exploits in the shorter formats into first-class cricket.

“I am hitting the ball really well. The last four fifties and one hundred made me tougher,” he said. “I was disappointed that I didn't get any hundreds in the one-day format and that increased my desire to make a hundred in this game. Fortunately it was done today.