Melbourne: Despite there being enormous pressure on Russell Domingo to deliver, South Africa's coach looked calm on Thursday afternoon.

Domingo, who is only 40, addressed a media conference at the MCG and, later, spoke exclusively to The Telegraph for a couple of minutes.

Excerpts...

Q Whether the World Cup dominated thoughts in the series' leading up to the tournament...

A Even subtly, a mention would always be there. Against Pakistan, for example, we treated one of the ODIs as a World Cup quarter final... Fortunately, we won.

India never having beaten South Africa in the World Cup...

Haven't thought of that too much, for I've been busy with our preparations. I think what has happened in the past will count for little on Sunday.

Defeating India in the 2011 World Cup (in Nagpur), but still not making much progress...

Some of the players have played in earlier World Cups, yes, but they've shed that baggage. Our focus, really, is on the present.

Importance of Sunday's face-off against India...

Every game is big for South Africa... India are the world champions and have some big players. The result is very important and we'd like to win big in front of a big crowd.

India winning emphatically against Pakistan...

We were ourselves playing that day (against Zimbabwe), so we didn't watch much of the Indo-Pak match. We'll be sitting with the analyst on Friday and, then, look at the possible Indian combinations. I've heard somebody talk about the complete break for eight days or so. That appears to have freshened up India.

The player South Africa will target more than the others...

Virat Kohli's an outstanding player and is India's kingpin. But there are others as well - Suresh Raina, (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane... India have a seriously good line-up. However, it's not South Africa's style to target one player.

Spearhead Dale Steyn and attack of sinusitis...

There was an issue with the air-conditioning in Christchurch. The hotel rooms were rather cold, but he's recovered.

[Christchurch hosted South Africa's warm-up fixtures.]

Wicket at the MCG...

The last time we played here, there was bounce... Our attack remains flexible. We could have four full-time bowlers and two part-timers or we may have five full-time bowlers and one part-timer. The intention is to always have the strongest XI.

Former South Africa captain and coach Gary Kirsten being on board as a consultant...

Gary's presence is inspirational and he's such a fine person to have around. He won't be with us all the time, though.

Australia's Mike Hussey being the other consultant...

Mike being around is a big plus. He's a World Cup-winner (2007) and has been a very thoughtful cricketer. He's there to help in the mental preparation and in strategy. He's there to talk about batting under pressure.

If it could result in too many cooks spoiling the broth...

No, no. At the end of the day, we have two very fine persons as consultants. I'm comfortable with both Gary and Mike.

Motivational guru Paddy Upton no longer being part of the support staff...

Paddy wouldn't strictly be called a sports psychologist... We haven't had one for eight-nine months now... I like the players to focus on their skills... Skill allows you to perform under pressure.

Whether having the family around is a distraction...

My family isn't here, so I can't say. If it's a distraction, then it's a good distraction. You can't keep thinking of cricket only, you have to keep the mind fresh.

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson already talking of the net run rate...

At this stage, I'm not thinking of it. It's not on my mind.

Changes in ODI rules making the game more in favour of batsmen...

The changes in field restrictions have certainly made it harder for the bowlers. You could say that two balls are used, one from either end, but that has actually allowed the balls to stay harder for a longer period. Made it easier for batsmen.

Finally, this World Cup possibly being a lot tighter than anticipated...

( Smiles) Yeah... Well, I reckon there are six teams with a chance to win the World Cup. What would you say?

Footnote: India's team management issued a statement saying Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were 'very much available' for selection against South Africa.