India captain MS Dhoni answered a barrage of questions from the assembled media right from the expectations of Indian fans of retaining the Cup to the marquee clash against Pakistan. After completely “switching off” from the game for close to a week, the Indian team looked at ease ahead of their first warm-up game against Australia on Sunday. “We have been here for quite sometime now,” Dhoni said.
“The team would have definitely felt the work load playing the Test matches and ODI series and this break would have definitely helped them recharge their batteries. We will use the two warm-up games to settle with the playing eleven that will feature in the first game. The warm-ups will be crucial from the perspective of what we want to achieve out of it.”
The build-up to India’s World Cup campaign has not been rosy. They lost the Test series against Australia and failed to register a win in the ODI tri-series. But that was far from worrying for the Indian camp. “Even while playing the ICC Champions trophy, we were going through a rough patch. But, the guys stepped up during that tournament and we played very consistently which counts.”
The Indian captain was also of the view that this time the tournament will be a closely contested one and they will be wary of teams that peak during ICC tournaments. “This World cup most of the teams are quite balanced. It will be a very special World cup for all the teams. It will be a matter of which team is more consistent and what kind of momentum they take with them into the knockout stages. If you see the past, there have been a few teams that do really well in ICC tournaments but may not be the best of teams when it comes to bilateral series. They have always stepped up when it comes to the ICC tournament.”
Being defending champions, expectations are bound to be high from Indian fans at home and abroad. Dhoni was of the view that the team could not be bothered by expectations and they would need to focus on the job at hand. “The expectations of the people are very high which we figured out when we were touring in India and playing at different venues in the 2011 World Cup. The same will apply to the Australian and New Zealand side since they are playing at home. At the same time, their culture is slightly different. What is more important is the fifteen member squad and how we as a team do well. We can’t think about the expectation level. We constantly have to deal with the expectation levels of the fans of India and we need to think and concentrate on executing our plans. We know what needs to be done and we will be concentrating on that.”
Also adaptability and batting and bowling in the middle overs held key to India’s success according to Dhoni as he said, “What is important is to adapt to the conditions and the middle overs. Bowling in the middle overs will also be crucial because that will put pressure on the opposition which will put a cap on the scoring from the 35th over onwards and the slog. We haven’t had much opportunity to bowl in the slog overs which is something that will come into action when the World Cup starts.
“Also, we have to alter out batting order according to the conditions. Wickets in hands is our strength and once we have wickets in hand we can really exploit the conditions. We are not that deep when it comes to batting and are different to other teams. You have to pick options and learn to score runs freely.”
The talk of the town has been the India-Pakistan clash and its almost as if the whole of Adelaide is waiting for it with bated breath. For Dhoni though, it was about taking it like just another game of cricket. “A lot of people have different views about the India-Pakistan matches. How I personally take it is similar to playing Australia, Sri Lanka or any other Test playing nation. The moment you start thinking about a traditional rivalry, you are just going to be adding pressure to yourself.
“What we have successfully done in the last three to four years is that we have mellowed down the things that apart from cricket that happens on the field. We have stuck to good aggressive cricket on the field but what we have minimized is the verbal things that often happens with the cricketers which is good for the game. You want to play it as a sport and you have to play it hard and you have to maintain the spirit of the game which both the sides have done well.”
Off cricket, back home, Dhoni has been blessed with a baby girl but the World Cup topped the Indian skipper’s priority. “I have been blessed with a daughter. Mom and Daughter both are good. As of now I am on national duty and everything else can wait. World cup is a very important campaign and the rest can wait as of now.”
By: BCCI
