Mumbai: After a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of England last year in their backyard, it will be payback time when India take on the English side in the four-Test series starting in Ahmedabad next month, said middle-order batsman Suresh Raina on Monday.
“I was there in England and I feel the pain of losing that series 0-4. I want to give some of that pain back,” said the Uttar Pradesh batsman, who will be leading India A against the tourists in a three-day warm-up game at the Cricket Club of India here from Tuesday.
Raina was of the opinion that the use of SG Test balls in the forthcoming series would be helpful to Indian seamers.
“There is a big difference in the SG Test and Duke balls. We have the bowlers who know how to get the SG Test ball to reverse swing like Zak (Zaheer Khan) and Umesh Yadav. It’ll be important how to handle the SG Test ball in humid cities like Kolkata and Mumbai.
“We also have (Ravichandran) Ashwin and (Pragyan) Ojha who have been amazing. The England team has good seamers like (Steve) Finn, (Stuart) Broad, (James) Anderson and it depends on how they can handle the SG Test ball,” Raina insisted.
While the retirement of Andrew Strauss was a blow to England, the return of Kevin Pietersen into their ranks after his patch-up with other team members was a big boost to the tourists’ hopes, said Raina.
“Yes, that is (Strauss’s retirement) a loss, but they have a huge positive in the form of KP’s return. He wasn’t there earlier, but now he’s back and that’s a big positive for them.”
The 25-year-old left-handed batsman, who is fighting for the lone middle order spot in the Indian Test side with his “role model” Yuvraj Singh, said it was up to the selectors to fill the No. 6 slot.
“Yuvraj has just come back from a serious illness. He’s a big role model for me and others. I would love to see him back in whites. I want that spot too. I want to play these four Tests against England. But I’d rather not dwell on who the spot will go to. Its upto the selectors who they want to pick,” Raina said.
Talking about the warm-up game, Raina said: “This game is very important for me. If I score runs here, it’ll help me, but if I don’t then its upto the selectors. If I do well here, I will play the next four Tests.”
Raina, meanwhile, informed that he got tips from former Test batsman Pravin Amre on how to deal with England off spinner Graeme Swann, who has troubled him in the past.
“I asked him about Swann. He troubled me a lot in England and got me out four or five times. He (Amre) told me to keep my shoulder over the ball and my eyes in line with the ball,” Raina said when asked about the specifics of his discussion with the former cricketer.
He added that the three-day match against the visitors will be good opportunity for the likes of Yuvraj and Ashok Dinda, apart from his own self, to prepare themselves for a long season ahead.
“Its a long season. We have Tests and then the one-dayers. Its (India ‘A’ game) a good opportunity for guys like myself, Yuvraj and Dinda. I want to enjoy myself and look to score big runs,” he said.
India played two Tests against New Zealand earlier this year and are set to play four Tests each against England and Australia, who will tour in the latter part of the 2012-13 season. (PTI)