Cardiff: Regardless of results in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, India’s one-day international future looks bright.
With captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni the only player aged over 30 in the team that beat Pakistan last weekend, Team India fans can look forward to the defence of their ICC Cricket World Cup title in 2015 with plenty of hope.
Dhoni believes in living in the present, but he is confident that some of the young players who are making a mark in the Champions Trophy may be part of the 2015 World Cup team.
“I think 2015 is far away,” he said. “We’ll have to see how the guys shape up, but all of them are quite young, so the chances are very good that most of them will feature in the 2015 World Cup.”
Meanwhile, Dhoni said that two factors play a big role in a cricketer’s career. “Fitness and form are the two things that every player has to have succeed,” said Dhoni, who despite keeping wicket and carrying the mantle of captaincy has remained in form and fighting fit.
“You may spot a few talents, but ultimately it is up to the individuals to do well. You can tell them about international cricket, how they need to prepare and all the stuff, but at the end of the day, when they have the ball or bat in their hand, they are the ones who have to do well at individual level. I think in both cases individuals have taken the responsibility really well.”
When reminded that it was through the Champions Trophy in Kenya in 2000 that Sourav Ganguly, as captain, ushered in players like Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag and that this tournament has played a huge role in the transformation of the Indian team, Dhoni joked: “I’m a bit worried since this is the last Champions Trophy that maybe Indian cricket won’t see any transition because we won’t have a Champions Trophy to go through.”
