No pressure of 2007 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 defeat: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
India captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mahendra-Singh-Dhoni-c73820 has insisted that his side will go into Saturday’s World Cup opener against eastern neighbours Bangladesh without any additional pressure of the devastating ICC World Cup 2007 opening match loss on their nerves.
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, a defeat that led to India’s shocking exit after the first round.
But the wicketkeeper batsman from Ranchi said the incident had not even passed through his mind while preparing for the tournament in 2011.
“Frankly, I have never thought about it but we obviously don't want a repeat,” said the talismanic http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 skipper who was also part of the squad that had capitulated against the Bengali Tigers in 2007.
The 29-year-old claimed his side was in a better frame of mind going into the high-profile cricketing event of 2011 and reiterated there was no home pressure on the players.
“Being a co-host will always bring a lot of expectations,” conceded the hard-hitting batsman. “But we do not get bogged down by expectations. The important thing is to do the process right. We always look to put more emphasis on the process, rather than on winning, and this is what has made us a successful team.”
The Men in Blue are the world’s number one Test team and are placed second behind World Champions http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in the ICC ODI rankings. They are looking to win their second World Cup trophy after Kapil Dev’s men led them to glory in 1983.
India will go into the ICC World Cup 2011 opener on the back of two morale boosting warm-up victories against the Aussies and Kiwis.
According to Dhoni, the tournament had started for them right from those victories. He also stressed on the importance of winning a tournament like this on a positive note and said he would want to carry on the same momentum in the main event.
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