At regular intervals, Suresh Raina excels in the role of a ‘finisher’ in the shorter versions of the game. Coming down the order, the left-hander has often kept India on the right track. Now with Mahendra Singh Dhoni hinting at sending Raina up the order, the batsman is obviously delighted.
“I would love to bat up the order. When you know that you are going to get 10-15 overs, while batting at No. 6 or 7, it’s always good (to get a chance) to bat up the order.
“But as long as I am playing for India, winning matches is more important for me (than the batting position),” said Raina while talking to the mediapersons ahead of India’s final One-Day International against England here.
“I think, when you are batting at No 5, 6, 7, it is important you finish the game. I have been batting well in the last 10-15 games. One more game to go and then I’ll be looking forward to the Test squad (against Australia). Hopefully, I can make the team,” he said.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s match, Raina said toss would be “very crucial” and continued, “Batting first, there is no particular target but it is important that you bat well against the new ball and if you have wickets in hand then you can build on the start. We are leading 3-1. It will be nice if we make it 4-1.”
Admiring the picturesque venue, Raina said, “I would like to congratulate Himachal Pradesh for hosting its first international match. Of the five games in this series, we are playing three matches at new venues — Rajkot, Ranchi and now here.
“It’s good that international grounds are coming up in India. The pitch here is always good for the bowlers and it will be a good challenge for the batsmen.”
Raina also hinted at a more aggressive approach from the Indian line-up on Sunday. “Now that we have won the series, you are going to see a different batting approach from us. The first 10-15 overs are going to be very crucial and then we can play our aggressive cricket.”
He praised the efforts of the Indian bowlers so far in the series and said, “Ishant (Sharma) has led the attack, with Bhuvneshwar (Kumar) and (Mohammad) Shami bowling really well. (Ravindra) Jadeja and Ashwin have put in good performances. So overall the team’s morale is very high.”
