Wednesday, June 3, 2009

MS Dhoni dismisses fears over weary India before World Twenty20

MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, the India captain, claims his side are used to playing more Twenty20 cricket than any other country. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA Archive/PA Photos

Just as a team can be undercooked it is also possible to be so well done that black smoke starts billowing through the oven door. India know all about that.

Yesterday's decision by the World Twenty20 champions and favourites for this summer's jamboree to cancel their planned net session could be taken as a sign of supreme confidence before their final warm-up game against Pakistan at The Oval tomorrow night. On the other hand it could be interpreted as a need to rest the weary and the wounded.

Yuvraj Singh has food poisoning – as if to prove that something can get under his skin too – and Rohit Sharma has shown similar symptoms, although he has recovered. The fast bowler Zaheer Khan, who injured his bowling arm in the recent IPL series in South Africa, will not play today and the opening ­batsman, Virender Sehwag is ­recovering from a shoulder injury.

The players deserve sympathy for their workload, even if it has made them rich. Between them, their 15-man squad have played in 390 IPL matches in 2008 and this year and both Sachin Tendulkar and the former player Dilip Vengsarkar have warned about mental fatigue. But according to their captain, MS Dhoni: "Fatigue is part of Indian cricket. We are used to it. The plus point is that we're the most experienced side in the Twenty20 format."

However, there are concerns about their form, not least that of Dhoni himself, after pushing himself up the order, and of the openers, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Their young players might also struggle against the movement of the ball in early summer and though Dhoni stresses the importance of spin bowling in Twenty20, his own twirlers will not relish bowling with cold fingers. They also lost their opening friendly against New Zealand at Trent Bridge on Monday, their fourth defeat in as many Twenty20 matches.

"When it is a Twenty20 format none of us is favourites because it is about how good you are on a particular day," says Dhoni. "But I'm reasonably satisfied. Against New Zealand we tried a few things. We wanted to bowl back of a length deliveries in the final three overs, because we have seen other teams do that. It didn't work. But we can always go back to bowling yorkers and slower balls."

The problem for India's opponents is there is so much talent in their side that two or three of them can afford to have an off day. The all-rounder Rohit Sharma was in great form in the IPL and Yusuf Pathan can be a spectacular ball striker.

Tonight's friendly match against ­Pakistan is a sell-out and an ICC spokesman said: "It's the most high-profile game there is even though it's not in the main body of the competition."

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