India taking Bangladesh seriously : Suresh Raina

Mirpur (Bangladesh), June 17 (IANS) Suresh Raina, who captained the side that toured Bangladesh last year, has said that India is taking the three-match One-Day Internationals (ODIs) seriously.

The neighbours had also played a three-match ODI series last year which India won 2-0. India had rested the regular 11 and sent a second-string side, reports bdnews24.com.

This time, although India went through a packed schedule touring Australia and then playing the World Cup before the Indian Premier League (IPL) back home, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sent their full-strength squads for the tour. The Indian team trained at Mirpur’s National Cricket Academy on Tuesday.

"You’ve seen that after the IPL, the full Test team came and now the full ODI team has come. Bangladesh have done well in ODIs recently and this shows how important a series this is for us," Raina said.

Bangladesh paceman Taskin Ahmed made his debut in ODIs in the last series. He finished with his career-best figures of 5/28 in the match. The 20-year old is fresh in Raina’s memories.

"He bowled really well in the World Cup. They also have Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, who’s batting really well and Shakib Al Hasan. They have lots of youngsters and they did really well in the World Cup," said the left-handed bat.

The 27-year-old middle-order batsman is expecting a good fight in the ODIs but only has victory on his mind.

"They have played very well. We will look to enjoy the game. We are here to win so hopefully we will look to win all the games," said Raina.