29 May,2009 08:35 AM IST | | Amol Karhadkar
Sanjay Manjrekar believes MS Dhoni's team won't get bogged down by cricketing stress as the defending champions leave today for next month's World T20
When the Indian team, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the first time, arrived in South Africa to participate in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, there was hardly any pressure on the bunch.
MS Dhoni hooks during India's recent limited overs series in New Zealand. PIC/AFP |
"If it was the World Cup in 50-over format, I could pick my favourites. My feeling is being the best team in the world doesn't mean you have a great chance of winning the title. India are the best team at the moment. And I am waiting to watch what the World T20 tells us about this format of the game," said Manjrekar.
Ever since emerging as the second highest run-getter in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa 2007, Gautam Gambhir hadn't looked back until he again arrived in the Rainbow Nation for the second edition of the Indian Premier League.
However, after a not-so-good (or disastrous?) outing in the IPL, as the Indian team leaves for England today to defend their tag of World Champions, Gambhir remains the only concern based on form.
While some believe that Gambhir has come a full a circle and his purple patch ironically ended in the same country where it started, Manjrekar certainly doesn't think so.
"I will not read too much into non-performance in T20s as the dream patch coming to an end. There's too much of the element of chance in T20.
"If you have a slightly longer bad run in other formats, you can say that the purple patch has come to an end. But that's not the case in T20," Manjrekar said.
Skeptics may also point fingers at Virender Sehwag's form.
"In the last innings that Viru played in the IPL he got 30-odd and got out, but he was playing like a dream. He is that kind of a player that you don't need to worry about his form. He'll come in and play a dream innings and win you the game before you know it," said Manjrekar.
Besides Gambhir and Sehwag's batting form, the only other concern for the Indian team ahead of the tournament is Zaheer Khan's fitness. Manjrekar hoped that Zaheer will be fully fit for the entire duration of the tournament.
"I have no idea about the extent of his injury.u00a0 From the reports that I am reading I can say that he has a shoulder problem.
"And he is not yet ruled out, right? With injuries I don't think there's enough transparency. You don't get to know what's exactly happening. But let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that he is fit for the tournament because his presence in the team is very important," hoped Manjrekar.