Hambantota, July 24: Just like India, Suresh Raina made a perfect start to the new season. Coming in at No.5, the left-hander got to the business right away and scored a crucial 50 runs off 45 balls in the first ODI against Si Lanka. His contribution went a long way in India notching up a match-winning 314 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Ahead of the second ODI, Raina spoke about the importance of his role in the middle-order and how he has improved as a finisher learning from the likes of MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.

You played a positive and flawless innings at the very beginning of the season. That must feel good?

Batting at No.5 is an important role because you have to rotate the strike and at the same time play your shots. I was just looking to stay till the end and fortunately, Dhoni and me had a good partnership going.

How do you prepare for such a crucial position?

I have learned a lot from Yuvraj [Singh] and [MS]Dhoni. I have played a lot of innings with them, especially Dhoni. We complement each other well when we bat together and have built some good partnerships with him. I’ve learnt to be positive from him. Now we have two new balls to negotiate from each end and we also have to execute out plan well during the batting powerplay as well. The key to my batting is to be positive. I hardly get 10-15 overs so I have to play at least 30-40 balls and make the most of them.

How’s it batting with Dhoni?

He does give me instructions when we’re batting together. During the batting powerplay he asks me to be positive and hit the ball. He says, once you get a boundary, you have to rotate the strike. If you and I bat till the 50th over, we can easily score 300-plus. I know my strengths and I also know that we have brilliant batsmen up the order in Virat [Kohli], [Virender] Sehwag and [Gautam] Gambhir. If Dhoni and I play 20 overs, we can easily score 120 odd runs.

How is your mindset coming after a long break?

I was completely rested, went to NCA, trained on my skills and fitness and had a few net sessions with my coach. Then I had total rest and I came into this series mentally fresh. I knew I had to do well in this series because there are a lot of matches coming up.