Mumbai, May 29: Despite fitness concerns over pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and the players’ fatigue factor looming large, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was today optimistic about India retaining the World T20 Championship in England.
“We have a very balanced side, very strong in batting. We bat right down to 8 or 9. This is not to say we lack in bowling. We have a strong bowling attack too,” he told a press conference here before departing with teammates for London by an afternoon flight.
“We have some outstanding talents in our team and we need to focus on playing to our potential without worrying about the result. We have to give 100 per cent and hopefully we can defend the title,” he said about the team’s prospects in the tournament starting June 5.
Dhoni said the team’s most experienced pacer Zaheer Khan was less than fully fit and hoped the injured left-arm bowler would be available for the holders lung-opener against Bangladesh on June 6 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
“Zaheer is not one hundred per cent fit, but we hope he would be fit by the time of our first match. We are hoping he would get fit by the 2nd or 3rd (of June),” the flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman said. Zaheer hurt his bowling shoulder during the Indian Premier League on May 3 in South Africa and underwent a scan that showed inflammation in the joint.
He has not played competitive cricket since then. Though fears have been expressed in some quarters, including by team coach Gary Kirsten, that his players may be jaded after playing non-stop since the beginning of the tour to New Zealand, Dhoni brushed them aside by saying every Indian player would now be used to this.
“We are all used to it by now. I came into international cricket in 2004 and have slowly got used to it. The weather in India is such that we can play cricket almost right through the year at various parts of the country. It’s not a concern,” he expressed confidently.
Dhoni said he was very pleased that he had plenty of options with regard to non-regular bowlers, especially in the spin department and that all his players have the experience of handling pressure by playing in the IPL.
“We have plenty of options with our part time bowlers, especially spinners. We have Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh who have taken hat-tricks in the IPL. We also have Suresh Raina. Yusuf Pathan is there too,” he said.
“International cricket is about handling pressure situations well and the team that handles pressure better would do well. We have someone like Ravindra Jadeja with limited international experience but with high talents. He has played against some top fast bowlers and spinners in the IPL and has learned to handle pressure,” Dhoni said.
The India skipper was not too concerned about the team's opening combinations due to the indifferent form of opening batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and bowlers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan.
“I am not at all worried. Both the openers (batsmen) are very talented. As regards opening bowling combination we have not yet decided who will do it. You have seen spinners too opening the bowling in the IPL. Teams have to take gambles,” Dhoni said.
He said the team members would have to make best use of the days they have at their disposal after reaching England prior to India’s opening match.
“Its good we have warm-up games against tough sides like New Zealand and Pakistan. We also have practice sessions and need to make use of these,” the Ranchi-born Dhoni said. (PTI)
“We have a very balanced side, very strong in batting. We bat right down to 8 or 9. This is not to say we lack in bowling. We have a strong bowling attack too,” he told a press conference here before departing with teammates for London by an afternoon flight.
“We have some outstanding talents in our team and we need to focus on playing to our potential without worrying about the result. We have to give 100 per cent and hopefully we can defend the title,” he said about the team’s prospects in the tournament starting June 5.
Dhoni said the team’s most experienced pacer Zaheer Khan was less than fully fit and hoped the injured left-arm bowler would be available for the holders lung-opener against Bangladesh on June 6 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
“Zaheer is not one hundred per cent fit, but we hope he would be fit by the time of our first match. We are hoping he would get fit by the 2nd or 3rd (of June),” the flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman said. Zaheer hurt his bowling shoulder during the Indian Premier League on May 3 in South Africa and underwent a scan that showed inflammation in the joint.
He has not played competitive cricket since then. Though fears have been expressed in some quarters, including by team coach Gary Kirsten, that his players may be jaded after playing non-stop since the beginning of the tour to New Zealand, Dhoni brushed them aside by saying every Indian player would now be used to this.
“We are all used to it by now. I came into international cricket in 2004 and have slowly got used to it. The weather in India is such that we can play cricket almost right through the year at various parts of the country. It’s not a concern,” he expressed confidently.
Dhoni said he was very pleased that he had plenty of options with regard to non-regular bowlers, especially in the spin department and that all his players have the experience of handling pressure by playing in the IPL.
“We have plenty of options with our part time bowlers, especially spinners. We have Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh who have taken hat-tricks in the IPL. We also have Suresh Raina. Yusuf Pathan is there too,” he said.
“International cricket is about handling pressure situations well and the team that handles pressure better would do well. We have someone like Ravindra Jadeja with limited international experience but with high talents. He has played against some top fast bowlers and spinners in the IPL and has learned to handle pressure,” Dhoni said.
The India skipper was not too concerned about the team's opening combinations due to the indifferent form of opening batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and bowlers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan.
“I am not at all worried. Both the openers (batsmen) are very talented. As regards opening bowling combination we have not yet decided who will do it. You have seen spinners too opening the bowling in the IPL. Teams have to take gambles,” Dhoni said.
He said the team members would have to make best use of the days they have at their disposal after reaching England prior to India’s opening match.
“Its good we have warm-up games against tough sides like New Zealand and Pakistan. We also have practice sessions and need to make use of these,” the Ranchi-born Dhoni said. (PTI)
No comments:
Post a Comment