Consistency key to World Cup
Feb. 17: The two consecutive losses in warm-up matches — one to the Indians and the other to South Africa XI — have taken some of the sheen off defending champions Australia’s 6-1 win over England in a recent ODI series Down Under.
This has ensured that India — at 7/2 — are still the favorites to lift the World Cup on April 2 in betting circles. But India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni isn’t reading too much into the prediction.
“As things stand now, it will be hard to pick any winner. It will be an open World Cup,” he said at a press conference attended by captains of all 14 ODI teams participating in the World Cup.
“All teams are in good touch. The gap between matches will help players recover from niggles which are bound to happen. It means every team will be in good shape for their matches. Sides that play consistently well over the next six weeks will do well.”
Australia skipper Ricky Ponting too refused to make predictions, but was confident that the two losses would not derail their Cup campaign.
“We had arrived just a couple of days back before the first warm-up match against India, so we were rusty. India played very well and so did South Africa. Conditions in both games were difficult. We are happy with our preparations. We have a proud record in the sub-continent. Let the first match come and you will find us in a very good shape,” he said.
“We are just feeling the World Cup conditions. We were up and down on injuries in the last few months but the guys are doing a good job,” said Ponting.
“There is no McGrath, Gilly (Adam Gilchrist) or Warne but players in the current team are ideal and good enough for these conditions,” he added. “We are still the world number one-ranked side in the world in one-day cricket.”
Sri Lanka, along with India, Australia and South Africa are tipped as one of the contenders for the trophy. Their skipper Kumar Sangakkara was chuffed about his team’s chances, but admitted they were under a lot of pressure.
“One has to do better than all teams to win the tournament. It is great playing at home and front of our own crowds,” Sangakarra said. “The format is such that if you make the quarters, you need to play very well in two matches to reach a World Cup final.”
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