“If we turn up and deliver good skills, we have a good chance of winning against India,” says English skipper Alastair Cook after an emphatic win over South Africa in the semi-finals on Wednesday. His team has been looking good as a unit and against India, it is going to be their final test. India have been unstoppable so far and Cook is very much aware of their strength and weaknesses.
Captain Cook was quoted by Hindustan Times saying, "I've got no doubt that the guys in our dressing room will turn up on Sunday. You know, I'm fully confident that our lads can do that. I just hope it's our turn. We just need one more performance out of the 11 guys who are picked. Two of the guys stand up and deliver a performance, a man of the match performance and you can win the trophy. That's how exciting and how close you are to doing it. It's a good dressing room to be in when you're in the final of a major tournament”
He added, "Finals can bring out the best in people and I think this England side in particular has delivered certainly when the chips have been down and the pressure has been up at its highest. It would be a massive achievement. It's very hard to do. It's taken a long time to get to the finals. We got to the finals in 2004 and couldn't quite get over the line. I hope this time we can get one better."
English skipper was quoted by Deccan Herald saying, "Obviously if we had said we'd win by seven wickets by 5:00 o'clock today, as we walked to the grounds, obviously, people would have laughed. But clearly it was a good toss to win, adjusted enough and it swung, first on the white ball.”
He added, "It swung conventionally in this tournament. It was obviously, quite warm yesterday. When it does swing like that, there is no bowler in the world you'd want other than Jimmy (Anderson) bowling with it. Obviously, he was outstanding, and the other guys backed him up.”
Absence of Graeme Swann hasn’t hurt the England’s chances much as they got James Tredwell who has been doing reasonably well in the last couple of matches. Cook was quoted by Deccan Chronicle saying, "We've been saying how lucky we are to have Tredders (James Tredwell) as back-up. He's more than back-up at the moment; he's been outstanding.”
He concluded, "Surely it's going to be a tough selection call if Swanny is fit. As I said, we won't risk it if it's touch and go."