Indian team will be highly dependant on their batting if they have to do well in the ICC T20 World Cup, says a report in The Hindu.
“If you compare our batting to our bowling, we find the bowling is slightly weaker, but still we have got experienced bowlers who can do the needful. We are looking to play seven batsmen to start off the tournament,” said Indian skipper MS Dhoni.
Dhoni who is a master in using the part-timers said, “It means the part-timers will have to do a really good job so that we can sustain with those seven batsmen. If we still find our bowling a bit weak, we will have to go with six batters and five bowlers.”
Indian team lost their warm-up match against Pakistan despite putting a good total, on that Dhoni said, “We are going good. Yes, we won one and lost one, but overall, it gave some exposure to some of our bowlers as to what needs to be done. At the same time, we don’t rate any side lightly, be it Afghanistan or any other side.”
Dhoni was happy the way Rohit Sharma batted in the two practice matches, “Rohit is someone who can get a lot more scores. I felt that in the last two practice games, he gave himself a bit of time and then played the big shots. We all know once he gets in and is set, he can play all around the park.”
Meanwhile, Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal in an interview to Deccan Herald said that that his team is capable of pulling a surprise.
On playing India in their first match, he said, “ India is a big team and we are very excited and looking forward to this game. Of late, the boys have been playing really well. So tomorrow you will see a different team from what you saw in the last World T20.”
On his overall expectations from the World Cup, Mangal said, “Coming into this event, the expectations are quite high. Everyone is saying that Afghanistan is capable of pulling off an upset, so I would say we can learn a lot from this tournament. Also, I would say T20 format is suitable for my team. In the shorter format of the game, three batsmen or two bowlers have to click on a particular day. We are here for exposure and to prove ourselves that we belong to this stage.”