Mumbai: Sometimes, it’s good to have a short memory. More so, when making a fresh start every day is both a necessity as well as an occupational hazard.
As much can be said about Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who gave an impression of being a die-hard optimist addressing the media on the eve of his team’s departure to
Pakistan for the Asia Cup on Sunday evening. Thus, unmindful of his team’s unexpected defeat against Pakistan in the finals of the recent tri-series in Bangladesh, Dhoni was confident of India’s chances in the battle for Asian supremacy.
“If we play to our potential, then we have more chances of winning. That’s what we will look to do. We will look to perform at our level best,” said Dhoni. “It’s a good opportunity for us. We have a good record in Pakistan in recent years but then that is past and what you’ve done in the past doesn’t matter too much. We will be facing a different scenario, different conditions and we have to make a fresh start. If we can do that again it will be great. That’s what we are looking to do.”
By force, or design, the Indian captain wasn’t willing to look back on the turn of events in Bangladesh. “One loss doesn’t matter much. If you look at it, before the final match we scored a brilliant win against Pakistan. These things happen in cricket. As I said, if we play to our potential we will win,” he stressed.
Echoing similar sentiments was the Indian coach Gary Kirsten. “This will be my first experience and I’m looking forward to see the relevance (of the Asia Cup). There are certainly some good sides there. If we can go there and win the tournament, I think, it will be a great feather in our cap. We have set a few goals for ourselves in the next few months and we have also set very high standards for ourselves and certainly the Asia Cup is a part of that. Our goal would be to win this tournament,” said Kirsten, who expects his batsmen to deliver the goods.
“This group of players, specially the batsmen, is extremely talented. We are backing them to be able to do some very special stuff for this Indian team,” the coach opined.
Mahendra Dhoni also made it clear that his team was willing to learn from their mistakes that cost them the title in Bangladesh and that includes promoting himself in the batting order. “It’s important to keep wickets in hand in the middle overs.
“If you don’t lose wickets in that period then even 100 runs is gettable in the last 10-12 overs.” Last, but not the least, the Indian skipper paid his tributes to the 1983 World Cup winning side that is celebrating it’s silver jubilee.
“As young cricketers we look up to that moment at Lord’s when Kapil Dev held the World Cup. It’s a moment that we want to repeat again.That was a great achievement and a motivational point for all of us.This team has won the T20 World Cup and now we want to win the 50-over World Cup as well.”
In a tongue firmly-in-cheek remark to the question how old he was when Kapil Dev lifted the Cup at Lord's, Dhoni said, “I was drinking milk as a two-year-old.”<<back
