Everyone, especially fans, gets emotionally charged before India and Pakistan clash on-field. But, for the team, the pressure can get too intense. Anticipating the unnecessary stress players experience when the two archrivals lock horns, Indians team management had the players not to treat the India-Pakistan game any differently from other matches.
This enabled the boys to focus, and not bother with the off-field aspect of subduing Pakistan. The sound advice helped India get a much-needed victory, first in Australia this summer, in their World Cup opener in Adelaide.
Off course, India’s track-record against Pakistan in World Cup matches has been flawless, which also helped. A source close to these developments revealed that the team management instilled confidence in every player of the team by explaining their roles.
From here, where does Team India go? “The win has done wonders to team morale and now the next target is South Africa,” the source explained. Another source informed that the team is taking a lot of inspiration from what India had done in the previous World Cup at home.
The success story of 2011 World Cup was possible because of the team bonding and this is one area the Indian team has continued to do well in. Even when India was losing all their matches in Australia, the dressing room atmosphere was excellent throughout.
“There was a one-off incident that happened during the Test series between Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, but barring that the players have always backed each even when the chips were down,” the source said.
There’s camaraderie between Kohli and Dhawan like before. “So much so that when Dhawan scored his fifth, you should have seen how Kohli celebrated the moment too,” another source pointed out. Indeed, MS Dhoni needs to be complimented for the kind of role he has played as the leader of the side.
