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India to play natural game: Raina

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Press Trust of India Colombo
Last Updated : Jan 20 2013 | 4:33 AM IST

India are leading the series 2-1, having won the first and third ODIs.

"We will look to play our natural game. We have three more games to go, two one-dayers and one T20," Raina said at the pre-match press conference.

The left-handed batsman said the team wanted at least four-five centuries and the job is only half done as yet.

"We are looking good as a team and if you see we had a plan to score four- five hundreds as individual batsmen and we have done it twice. Virat (Kohli) and Gautam (Gambhir) scored hundreds, Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag) fell short but, our goal is yet to be reached. The tour is yet to finish. Two more games remaining," he said.

Raina, who played a crucial 65-run knock in India's win in the third ODI in company of Irfan Pathan, said he has learnt to play with the lower-order batsmen.

"I have learnt over the years how to bat with the tail-enders but luckily, in the last game I was batting with Irfan. I knew he is an allrounder so he has done really well," he said.

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Raina said he now targets to finish the games and play cautiously while batting with lower-order batsmen.

"But for me when you get 15-20 overs I have to bat till the last ball. I have to bat during the batting Powerplay. So I need to play my shots as well as take singles and twos. If I bat with Mahi (MS Dhoni) then I know I can play big shots because he is there at the other end.

"But if I am batting with the likes of [Ravichandran] Ashwin, Irfan, Zak [Zaheer Khan] so I have to take strike in the last three-four overs so my job is to play till the last ball," he said.

  

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First Published: Jul 30 2012 | 6:36 PM IST

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