Gearing up to play for India A in the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh A, starting today in Bangalore, middle-order batsman Suresh Raina reckoned that the matches were far from being mere 'practice games' and acknowledged the need to play really well to beat a strong Bangladesh side.

Raina's wariness comes after MS Dhoni's men suffered a shocking 2-1 loss in Bangladesh in June this year. Bangladesh have named a strong A side, with a view to use the three upcoming matches as pre-cursor to their home series against Australia, later in October.

"It's good three quality international games. We need to go out there and play really well and we just need to be disciplined. I've been doing it for the last 10-15 years. It's a good practice game, I can't actually say it's a practice game because we have lost a series to Bangladesh. And India A have done well in the last couple of series, so we need to play really well," Raina told reporters in Bangalore.

Raina's last international assignment was the Bangladesh tour and the southpaw pointed out the need to play games ahead of the home series against South Africa, starting October 3.

"We need to play games, we haven't played much after the Bangladesh series. For practice, I've played club cricket. It's a big opportunity and I'm very positive, I've worked really hard and I am getting ready for the big series," Raina said.

Raina also expressed his excitement at playing under the recently-appointed A team coach Rahul Dravid and revealed how the former skipper worked hard with the youngsters like him and Irfan Pathan, who came through during his reign.

"I'm very excited to play with him (Rahul Dravid). I worked really hard when he was the captain. He was very, very solid with the youngsters, especially me, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan and lot of other youngsters who came into the team. During that time he worked really hard with Dinesh Karthik and myself too. It gives you lot of confidence and definitely I'll work with him in the future," Raina said.