Indian off-spinner R Ashwin said that winning the ICC World Twenty20 after a gap of five years will be critical for the team after their disastrous tours in England and Australia, says a report in Daily Bhaskar.
“We won the 2007 World Cup and then this format has eluded us. We didn’t do well in the last two World Cups. Now to put in faith and win this World Cup is critical for the team, in the sense that we have done a good job but over the last one year we had tough time in Australia and England. To resurrect that and actually to do a good job here is important to everybody,” Ashwin said.
Ashwin said that winning the World Cup is a long process, “Winning this World Cup is a long process. It is a 20-day long tournament and it is going to be another five-six days before the tournament begins. We actually get into the tournament with a couple of practice games and drawing as many positives as possible is very crucial for the team, so from there we will take it on. Definitely at the back of mind everybody knows that it is a very crucial tournament for us,” he said.
India and Pakistan are in the same group and the arch-rivals will take on each other on Sept. 17, on that Irfan pathan said, “We are going to look forward to win that game. We are playing Pakistan after a long time. Especially I am playing against them after a long time. Since three years I have not played against them. Really looking forward to play against Pakistan and perform well.”
Meanwhile, explosive Indian left-hander Suresh Raina in an interview to The Hindu said that he is really happy with his form.
“I have been hitting the ball well. In Sri Lanka too (in the last series). I have been getting a lot of runs in IPL in the last five years. God has been really kind. We have a lot of power in middle order and we hope to deliver everyday,” Raina said.
On Yuvraj Singh’s dreamreturn into the Indian squad, Raina said, “He has been phenomenal. Credit goes to his family, his friends, and everyone wanted him to play for the Indian team again. I think he showed character and responsibility to his body. He showed that the disease can be cured. And he worked really hard at the NC [camp]. I saw him playing the last game against New Zealand [the t20 in Chennai]. He was fully pumped up. He fielded very well and he bowled two overs brilliantly and he was just like what he was earlier. I think it is important for us to keep supporting him all the way to the end. It’s going to be good for the Indian team.”