Calcutta: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is happy with the team's performance leading up to the World T20 and has ruled out any chance of complacency.
At the pre-tournament media conference on Tueday, Dhoni said that "if we play to our potential and execute our plans, then we definitely have a chance."
Excerpts
On preparations for the tournament and how he compares it to the 2011 World Cup
Frankly it's difficult to remember the 2011 Cup. When it comes to expectations, I don't think it's any less. It's difficult to remember the preparations we went through before the 2011 World Cup, but as far as this preparation is concerned we have had a perfect scenario. We won the series in Australia, a bilateral series with Sri Lanka, and the Asia Cup... We are looking on the right track... Fitness will be one of the main concerns. Because of fitness you may lose one of the first XI players. Unless it's a ball-hit injury or like that, we will be quite happy.
On the expectations
Not thinking much of expectations as it will only put you under more pressure. We have prepared well. We have won two three series will get confidence from that. The team looks settled in all departments. Once you qualify for the knockouts, I feel it's really important to be on top of your game.
On the challenges ahead
It's difficult to measure the challenges. It's a world-class tournament. Every team is very good. Every team has a set of players who can play big shots. All teams have fantastic bowlers and good all-rounders. It's quite even... I feel at the start everything will boil down to how well you play on that particular day. I don't think you can take a side lightly, a big hitter can really change a game if he plays a big innings.
On the team's chances
I'm not a critic so I would say all teams have fantastic chances. Creating hype always helps, puts extra pressure on us. Only in the last few editions home teams have been winning the Cups. Let's not say it's happening in India... Especially in the shorter formats the difference becomes smaller and smaller. Every team has a chance, if we play to our potential and execute our plans then we definitely have a chance.
On if there's need for the team to shift gears
I think we are running on sixth gear. Technology has gone into the eighth gear, but the kind of stuff we are doing on the field is adequate for any level of game. We have to see that the focus should be on from the very first ball. I think everything is set, there are not any more gears to operate upon. I'm really quite happy with the progress.
On his batting
I always felt good when it comes to batting. Up and down keeps happening in the batting department.... You have to see the opportunity you're getting. I felt I had a decent opportunity in Bangladesh... 90 percent of time I will be playing the same kind of role as I played in the Asia Cup, getting to play only 10-12 ball in an innings. I'm ready for the challenges.
On whether he's answered critics with a superb innings in the Asia Cup final
I'm not here to give answers to anyone. As I said earlier, India losing the Asia Cup final is a bigger headline than winning it. People will keep talking about a lot of stuff. But it's important to know the responsibility you have in the team. They will always be criticism, but from a player's perspective, it's important to know what the team needs. You don't always have to look good.
On his role as a finisher
When it comes to my role, I felt not everybody can be flexible according to needs. At times if you have a good partnership and if you have the flexibility and adaptability, the job becomes easier. This kind of adaptability is needed. We have played enough cricket to be open to the idea.
On Virat Kohli as a finisher
For me a finisher is a lower-order batsman. The top-order batsmen always sets up the innings, but it's always useful to have somebody like Virat at No. 3, who has the ability to finish the game. But when the opposition scores big it is important for your No. 5/6/7 batsmen to finish the game. The entire set-up is for the lower-order batsmen to finish the game. The finishers will be the batsmen who usually bat lower down the order. The job profile is very different. You have to think twice before hitting lower down the order as you have less batsmen after you. It's a complex job. If you have three batsmen of Virat's calibre then more often than not they will finish.
On India's settled bowling unit
Definitely I feel happy... it's a big relief. It's a relief to have death bowlers. 99 per cent of the time I know who's bowling the death. The job becomes easy. Whole bowling department is doing well. I don't have to put a lot of effort.
On Mohammed Shami's fitness
He will have to prove his fitness. The physio will take a call.
On Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pawan Negi having to sit out
It's good to have a problem of plenty. You want to have the best XI as per as the conditions are concerned. We don't want to experiment too much. Two warm-up games will give us the opportunity to give everyone chances.
On playing on different wickets
The wickets were really different. Australia wickets were the best to bat on, not much movement but the first game in Pune was completely different, more like English condition. At the start of the Asia Cup, the conditions were more in favour of the seamers, difficult to hit... The wicket for the final was the best to bat on, very similar to subcontinent wickets. Normally in a tournament like World T20, you will get flatter wickets to make it more entertaining for the spectators. The pattern in these tournaments is generally more in favour of the batsmen.
On playing the final at the Eden
The final is still a long way away. We will slowly go into the warm-up games and take one game at a time. All sides are very good. Every side has two or three players who can win matches on their own. I feel slow and steady progress is very important. The build-up will depend on the way we start. I don't think I will have to worry about the final. We will have to worry about the preparations and execution.
