India would be under pressure at home: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Duncan-c54739 Fletcher
South Africa’s batting consultant, Duncan Fletcher, while terming http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 as the favourites for the upcoming cricket World Cup, pointed out that they may be under enormous pressure playing the big cup at home.
Fletcher went on to say that India may not be able to take the pressure of playing cricket’s most cherished one-day tournament on their own wickets. Talking to the media, he said, "India may be the favourites at this stage... but they must be under enormous pressure. Whether they can handle that pressure from home will be significant. But it's an open World Cup...and there are no firm favourites.”
Fletcher, who played for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 during his hay days, predicted that spinners would play an extremely important role in the sub-continental World Cup. He also hinted that teams needed to take fully fit players with them because the hot weather of India would prove to be quite an obstacle for unfit players.
Fletcher further added, "You can't rule out http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, who can take the attack to the opposition on their day of form,".
The South African batting consultant rubbished the suggestions that South Africa may face a tough time on the Indian wickets. He said, "I believe South Africa matches everyone as far as ODIs are concerned. They don't play on those wickets very often, but when they get on it they play very well. The wickets in India might be slower and a bit flatter, but they have got the skill and the ability to adapt. I think they will perform far better than what many would expect of them."
He predicted the upcoming World Cup to be a quick-scoring gala as compared to the World Cups in the past, owing to the advent of Twenty20 cricket. Fletcher acknowledged the fact that the shortest version of the game has had a significant impact on the attitudes of players, and batsmen now prefer to hit the ball hard from the very start.
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