Cardiff: With Team India playing some flawless cricket so far, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had reasons to wear a happy mood on the eve of their semi-final of ICC Champions Trophy against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Dhoni began by asking a counter question to a query from a reporter who asked whether the pressure of intense expectations is off his team now as it wasn’t there when the team arrived.
“Who said we never had expectations of not doing well here? Frankly, we don’t know who is saying that we have to win this tournament too.
“I think it was started by you guys [media] and ended by you guys too. We just came here to play some good cricket, and that’s what we have been doing. We are working hard. Every next session that we are going into, we want to improve ourselves.”
The apparent lack of pressure does not mean that Dhoni is taking Sri Lanka lightly.
Answering to a query from Gulf News as to what his plans were to keep Sri Lanka’s star batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in check, Dhoni said: “I think they are a dangerous side, so we shouldn’t just concentrate on two individuals. I think overall if you see their first seven batsmen all of them are very dangerous, so I think we’ll concentrate on all of them rather than thinking about the two individuals. But yes, they are two people who have done really well for Sri Lanka, so we have to be aware of the fact, but still we need to prepare also for the whole team.”
Dhoni is also not ready to accept that Sri Lanka’s strike bowler Lasith Malinga could be a threat. Incidentally, Malinga has never been a threat to India.
“I think it has to do with the fact that we play amongst each other a lot. We see a lot of Malinga, we understand him better, and we play him in the sub-continental conditions. Most of my batsmen have faced him, but still he’s one of the most difficult bowlers to score off freely, especially in the shorter format.”
To a query whether playing against Sri Lanka frequently would help his team, Dhoni said: “I think it works the same for both the sides. If we say we find it easier, then it would be the same for Sri Lanka. It’s just that we play quite often; either we go to Sri Lanka or they come to India, and we have the Asia Cup, also, where the teams keep on playing against each other.
“I think it gives a basic idea of what the strengths and weaknesses of each and every individual is as far as the bowlers or the batsmen are concerned. I think it helps both sides to prepare themselves really well, and you can cut off those extra 15 minutes of time that you spend in a team meeting and keep it very short.”
How different is this Sri Lanka team from the one that he played in the 2011 World Cup final?
“Even if both teams were the same, there have been a significant amount of changes that have been made to the format, quite a few rules and regulations. So I don’t think we can really count on all those stats. So I think it’s very different, and also the fact that both the teams are looking very different.
“It means both the teams are good. I think Sri Lanka are a really good squad. They are going through a phase where they are missing some of their players. So I think it’s important for both the teams to do well.”