Raina wants to use T20Is for ODI return

Cape Town, February 24

On a comeback trail in T20 Internationals, Suresh Raina says he wants to use the opportunity to regain his place in ODIs ahead of the 2019 World Cup. With a long T20 schedule ahead, he said that there was a chance for him to return to the ODI side as well. “It is important to win a trophy first, to go out there in a team mindset. If you see the top order, they are all batting well. When you come to the middle-order, MS (Dhoni) is there, and Manish (Pandey) is also doing a good job,” said Raina. “So we will see where I can fit in. There are a lot of matches coming up now. Winning games is more important than thinking which format I am playing in. Every India game is very important for me right now.”
The 31-year-old last played for India in a T20 International against England on February 1, 2017. He had made an impressive 63 off 45 balls but did not feature in the subsequent T20I series against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia.
“I always play for the team… If we are winning trophies, individual performances will look after themselves. Whatever opportunity I get, I look to play my natural game. I enjoy the team support and it helps improve my game,” he said.
Raina said the first six overs are really important in the team’s plans in T20Is and they will look to go aggressive once again in the third match against South Africa here tomorrow.
“It is important (to attack). Virat (Kohli) showed that faith in me. In the last two games we have dominated in the first six overs. It is very important to play well in the first six overs,” Raina said.