Lounging comfortably on the sofa and sipping on tea, Raina is completely at home making plans of going to watch the film "" Agent Vinod "" in the evening with his pals. ""Have something, in fact have lunch.

Bahot tasty khana bana hai,"" he offers us before we sit down for 'the' talks. Talking of food, Raina doesn't miss out on having the Tunde kababs while he's here.

""Yahan aa ke toh main Tunde ke kabab zaroor khata hoon. At home in Ghaziabad, everyone is a pure vegetarian.

In fact when I want to cook non-veg there, my mum shoos me out on the terrace where I have my cooking utensils. I'm told categorically that what ever non-veg or egg etc that I have to cook, I should do upstairs and not enter her kitchen at all,"" says Raina with a smile.

Not forgetting that he's been giving us enough food for thought these days with the gossip of him dating actor Anushka Sharma . Looking foxed at this Raina says, ""I don't know where these rumours are coming from and that too after such a long time? I have met Anushka just a couple of times.

She's a very nice girl and that's all. We met at a party in London nearly a year ago and after that we and our friends went out for dinner.

There's no question of my dating her or any other Bollywood actor. I will never date an actor or a model.

My family will never accept her. We are a middle class family and an actress will never be able to gel with us,"" he says adding, ""As and when I get into a relationship, I'll flaunt her to the world.

I'm looking for a soul mate and in any case I'm not very much for casual dating. I'm such a simple guy away from this dating-shating business.

Abhi mere paas time hi kahan hai kisi affair mein padne ka. Any relationship requires a lot of time and I don't have that.

Har time phone pe baat karne se relationship nahi chalti,"" says he giving his reasons for not having a girl in his life. And before we can ask about his dream girl, Raina says, ""I will go for a simple girl who's completely in tune with me and who gets along with my family,"" he says.

""Pata nahi kahan se logon ko ideas aa jate hain. Meri koi controversies nahin hain isliye yahi sahi,"" says he, shaking his head.

Which brings us to discuss another controversy. Of the Indian cricket team fixing the World Cup semi finals.

""It's not fair on us,"" says he, talking of the rumours. ""We as a team put in so much efforts to win the World Cup and that too after decades.

We know what we went through and when such talks happen it doesn't feel so good."" Ask him if such rumours make the team mull over them in the locker room and Raina says, ""No.

We have better things to talk about. We don't pay much heed to such talks.

We discuss our games or we chill out. We talk of things which boosts our morale and not things which would affect our performance.

"" Talking enthusiastically about cricket, Raina says he's very happy about youngsters joining the team. ""People are saying that Sachin should retire.

But I feel why should he? He's more fit than most of us youngsters. I'm really glad that we are getting youngsters to play in the team.

I count myself so lucky to be playing with such stalwarts like Rahul Dravid and Sachin. And it's really good that these youngsters too are getting an opportunity to learn so much from them.

I'd love it if more and more players from UP would get a chance in the team."" Talking of his home state Raina is worried about the lack of sports facilities in Uttar Pradesh.

""It's really sad that all this talent is going waste and not getting any proper opportunity. I know how much I have struggled to make it this far.

Logon ko dekh ke bahot achha lagta hai ki IPL player hai, ghar hai gaadi hai, magar mujhse koi poochhe ki main kaise yahan tak pahuncha hoon. I remember in the college hostel in the first year maine bahot maar khayi hai.

Khoob pitayi karte the seniors. There used to be a lot of ragging.

I've washed so many clothes I don't even remember. Even after that it took a lot of struggle to be able to make it to the national team.

I'd count myself as a lucky one,"" says he. Talking more about it Raina says, ""When I was playing at the state level, there had been a coaching camp organized which cost Rs 10,000.

My brother urged me to join it to make my game better but I couldn't because my father used to get paid Rs 10,000 and if I'd paid that as my cricket coaching fees, toh ghar kaise chalta? Isi tarah, mere jaise bahot players hain, who play much better than I do, who are more talented but have no opportunities or facilities which would exploit their talent. There are so many players who have committed suicide in frustration.

There used to be my team mate from Kanpur who killed himself because he didn't have money to marry off his sister. We have people in the team from other states who are from very poor families but have got a chance to play for the country.

Kisi ka father truck driver hai, kisi ka paan wala but sab khel rahe hain aur achha khel rahe hain."" Continuing on the same note Raina says, ""It would be very nice if we could have a proper sports training academy in Lucknow.

And not just for cricket. See how well our men's hockey team has played.

They've qualified for the Olympics also. Aise hi cricket ki tarah aur sports ko bhi badhava milna chahiye.

Especially in our state. I will try and meet Akhilesh Yadavji and request him to do something for the sportsmen in our state.

"" With his holidays continuing for a longer time than ususal this time before the IPL begins, Raina is planning a trip to the jungles of South Africa. ""We, the whole Indian Cricket tram had gone on a safari last time we were in SA and thsi time I'm planning a trip there with all my friends.

I'm really looking forward to the safari. It's sheer bliss there with just the wild animals around you.

It's like living in another world. I'm sure it'll get me back into full gear for the IPL matches.

"" As a parting shot we ask Raina whether the team India is as excited as the viewers are when playing against Pakistan? ""Oh Yes. You wouldn't believe it.

We can't sleep the night before a match with Pakistan. We know that our country wants us to win each and every match against Pakistan and by God's grace all the matches that I have played against Pakistan, we haven't lost a single one.

But unke chest pe woh star dekh ke kuchh ho jata hai. There's sledging and abusing everything going on the field when we play against Pakistan and there's nothing to beat the feeling when we beat them.

It's a different high. We may play against any team, but with Pakistan there's a different pressure.

Hum sab mein ek alag josh hota hai..

..

"" Iti Shree Misra (less)