Business Standard

Heaping praise on Dhawal Kulkarni, the leading Mumbai pacer, for bowling well, Raina said, "He was bowling in good areas. I had to be calm and technically sound against him because he was bowling really well. I was trying not to play any risky shot and hang in there till the last ball.

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Press Trust of India
"It is always special when you score against Mumbai. They are domestic champions. They have won it so many times. I knew I had to play well in this game because whenever you play in Mumbai, it always feels special on this wicket. "I have played a lot of matches here; have played a lot of Times Shield trophy games here. I used to play a lot of matches at MIG and CCI," he added. Raina, who was unbeaten on 36 in a team total of 330 for five yesterday, said he told himself that he should try and bat till tea today'. "When I got 36 last night I was telling myself to bat till tea. 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 will get 140-150. That was my game plan. Glad I did that." About his side's current position in the game, Raina said Mumbai have two more brilliant batsmen in Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma to come in. "We have three more days to go and we need to bowl well. They still have Ajju (Ajinkya Rahane)...He is batting well and (Wasim) Jaffer got a brilliant 80. Still they have two more brilliant batsmen, so we have to work really hard tomorrow." Mumbai left arm spinner Ankit Chavan, who grabbed three wickets after lunch to bring about an end to the RoI innings, said the wicket was playing the same as it did on day one. "Wicket is playing the same as yesterday. It became a bit slow as the game progressed. They also gave us chances, the bowling was good and we got the wickets. The wicket might get a little slower and it might turn on day 3 or 4," said Chavan, who took 3 for 56. "Considering the wicket we did a good job in restricting them today. It's obviously a big score, we have good batsmen. We will try to bat well and achieve the first innings target," he added.

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First Published: Feb 07 2013 | 7:15 PM IST

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