I've not seen a wicket in the sub-continent do this much: Suresh Raina

Pacer friendly Mirpur made Indian batsmen work hard for their runs

Suresh Raina, who captained the Indian team in the absence of MS Dhoni to a 2-0 victory against Bangladesh in the just concluded One Day International series, has expressed his surprise at the kind of pitches his team had to play on during the series.

In contrast to the typical subcontinental ODI wickets, the Dhaka pitch assisted both the seamers and the spinners, thereby making life extremely difficult for the batsmen.

"Especially in the subcontinent, I haven't seen a wicket do this much in the last 10 years," Raina said.

"It was good for the team, for the batsmen to adapt to these conditions and take it to England and Australia for the Tests and the World Cup. Bangladesh are also going to West Indies. So I think it was a good battle between bat and ball and winning the series was important."

The final ODI was washed out due to rain, with the visitors claiming the series 2-0. After being dismissed for 105 in the second ODI, India found themselves in a similar position yet again with the scoreboard reading 119/9 in 34.2 overs, before rain made no further play possible for the day.

The Mirpur pitch, under overcast condition due to the delayed monsoon in the country, offered plenty of assistance for the fast bowlers that exposed the limitations of the Indian batsmen, but the 26-year-old is looking at the positive side of it.

"Whenever we play in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, I think the batsmen always have the upper hand. Here, rain was coming in and bowlers had a new ball at both ends. So you had to control your shots and decide when to attack and when not to. Still I think, both sides played really well, especially India.

"Everyone stepped up to the plate. Most importantly all the bowlers had a fantastic tour. Especially Stuart Binny and Mohit Sharma . I think the two debutants, Parvez and Akshar also did really well. When you come to any tour, one thing that comes to your mind is that you need to win all the games. The series was tough, the wicket was doing something. Very happy with the boys, they did a fantastic job," Raina said, heaping praise on his team.

The left-hander also mentioned that the experience gained on this wicket will be helpful for the players who are also a part of the Test squad that tours England.

"A lot of young players have come out of one and a half months of IPL. They were playing their first tour in Bangladesh when the wicket was doing something. We have learned how to tackle seaming conditions and a few players from our side are going to England so they could utilise these conditions to prepare for the Tests."

Raina, when questioned about how the Indian batsmen will fare in the English conditions, suggested that the wickets might be much easier to bat on.

"That wicket is going to be more batting-friendly. Bounce will be there, but at the same time you can play your shots. Here I think the wicket was really doing a lot," said Raina.

With the first of the two warm-up games for the England Test series scheduled on June 26 against Leicester, the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny and Wriddhiman Saha, who played against Bangladesh, will be looking to get more match practice ahead of the all-important series.