‘Stay grounded’
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has told his match-winning young team to remain focused as they approached the business end of the Champions Trophy.
The reigning World Cup champions have enjoyed a remarkable campaign in the eight-nation tournament so far, becoming the only team to enter the semi-finals with an all-win record.
But Dhoni knowns all the good work will mean nothing if his team slip up in Thursday’s second semi-final in Cardiff against a still unknown opponents from the wide-open Group A.
“There are, hopefully, still two more matches to go and we must play with the same intensity that we have shown so far,” the Indian captain said.
It has been a formidable display by the tournament’s youngest team in which Dhoni is the oldest member of the side at 31 and reserve spinner Amit Mishra is the only other player aged 30.
Former Test batsman Sandeep Patil’s selection panel has been so ruthless in axing non-performers that the current squad have only three players — Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli — who played in the World Cup final two years ago.
Dhoni says the induction of young blood has made his team the “top fielding side in world cricket,” a praise rarely associated with Indian sides in the past.
The build-up to the tournament was overshadowed by a spot-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League that led to the arrest of three players, including Test fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
At least two IPL franchise owners were being investigated for betting and the powerful cricket board president Narayanswamy Srinivasan was forced to step aside over his son-in-law’s links to illegal bookmakers.
Dhoni himself was facing a conflict of interest issue after it was revealed that he had a stake in a management company that represented several national players like Raina and Ravindra Jadeja.
But the young side rallied around their unflappable captain to put on a winning performance that impressed former players and fans alike.
India’s middle-order hasn’t been tested in the three matches so far but Dhoni said that it is not of great concern. “We have a settled middle-order consisting of myself, Raina (Suresh) and Jadeja (Ravindra). We have played a lot of matches and only thing is that we need Raina to get some more practice at the nets. Also the middle-order got a fair hit during the two warm-up games.”
The skipper got hit in the shin but said that he will be okay in the next three days. “This is the team of the future,” India’s former World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev said. “They are playing fearless cricket. Easily the best side in the tournament so far.”
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