No pressure on me, claims Dhoni
Posted on Sep 29, 2007 at 10:17 | Updated Sep 29, 2007 at 10:36
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Tags: cricket, india, australia
Bangalore: India and Australia play their first One-Day International at Bangalore on Saturday and the hosts have won only one of the last 10 matches against the ODI world champions.
But after the Twenty20 World Championships title triumph that seems to matter little for the new Indian One-Day skipper going into the first game of the seven-match series against the world champions.
"No, I am not under pressure," Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with his hands raised, said.
Nothing it seems faze Dhoni, not standing next to Australia skipper Ricky Ponting - the man with three world cup medals and not the prospect of having to lead a team that includes three former captains and three pillars of Indian cricket.
"They (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly) have played more than 300 One-Day Internationals each. So that really helps and I am sure there would be tough situations in the series and I am glad that I can turn up to them. Of course Yuvi is also there and I can ask for suggestions," Dhoni said.
Even as the players practised at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Dhoni was quick to dismiss any fears of India succumbing to the Australian strategy of mental disintegration.
Instead he chose to focus on getting the team to switch back into the 50-over mode.
"I think it is quite difficult in the sense that whatever matches we have played after the England tour, they were Twenty20 matches. We too some time to get in to that groove but it is important to switch off from that and get into that 50-over match groove. It is a very different form of game," Dhoni said.
With Ponting not fit to play, a resurgent Indian team is set to offer a stiff challenge to the world champions and though they have held the edge in recent series but this time Dhoni and co. will come hard at them
"During the semi-final of the Twenty20 they played with great passion and energy and they will be relying on those same qualities in the next seven games plus the Twenty20," stand-in skipper Adam Gilchrist said.
Dhoni tasted success in his first outing as a captain and now has a new challenge. The Twenty20 win has changed the dimensions of Indian cricket and the next generation is ready to take over.
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