Friday, February 18, 2011

India not under pressure, MS Dhoni about opening match

About the Saturday's maiden match in the 10th ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 against host Bangladesh, the Indian Captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni says "We are not under pressure".

Mahindra Singh Dhoni was speaking at a press conference at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka today. 

"… we need to attack hard in the beginning," he said terming Bangladesh a strong opponent, with two world-class spinners. 

"Spinners can really put pressure," Dhoni said indicating to Bangladesh captain Sakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzaque. "Their pacers will also do well." 

Asked whether India would be able to overcome the 2007 World Cup shock, he said: "It has to be…." 

Bangladesh had defeated India, which eventually led to its elimination from the 9th World Cup's first round. 

Bangladesh keeps hope on recent performance

Bangladesh Captain at Press
conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh   
Bangladesh Cricket Captain Sakib Al Hasan sees prospect of doing well as they have been performing continuously  in big matches playing good cricket.

"Back in 2007, there were uncertainty about performance and match results, but now most of the players think positively and behave accordingly," Mr. Sakib told media at a press conference here in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Friday.


Responding to queries on how confident was Bangladesh ahead of its first match against India in the World Cup scheduled tomorrow (on Saturday).

The World Cup event will begin with the day-night match at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka.

Sakib said Bangladesh want to defeat India and South Africa in the first round. "We are not thinking about India. We want to play a good cricket."

He told reporters at the stadium's media conference room that he had not targeted any opposition batsman for the match.

Asked to make comparison of the spinners of the teams, Sakib, a left-arm spinner himself, spoke of both.

He said Bangladesh batsmen were confident about playing well. "We are old enough to cope with the [pressure of] big matches."


He, however, admitted that the current Indian team was much stronger than it was in 2007. "They have improved a lot than the last World Cup."

"But, if we can push them to back-foot in the early overs, it will benefit us, no matter if they bowl or bat first," the Bangladesh skipper observed.

In response to another query whether the team had needed pacer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who was left out of the squad, the captain said that the current players in the squad were performing well.

"He played up-to-the-mark as long as he was in the team," he said about Mashrafe, who used to start with the new ball.

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