Twenty20 World Championship 2009

We can handle pressure: Dhoni

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his men are more equipped than their counterparts to handle pressure situations associated with the shortest format of the game when they defend their ICC World Twenty20 title.

Twenty20 World Cup Schedule

Dhoni said although other teams have players who featured in the IPL, his side has an upper hand in the biennial event starting here on June 5 as all the 15 members of the Indian squad have featured in the just-concluded IPL in South Africa.

“The best thing is that we will know more how to handle pressure, when in the last over you need 10 or 15 runs, everyone in our side has faced that situation. There are quite a few players from other countries but most of our players were in the Indian Premier League,” Dhoni told reporters at the official press conference in London.

“In IPL you have limited talent in your side, but here we have plenty of options. We have the cream of the IPL so there is less pressure on each and every individual,” he added. Dhoni, however, warned his team-mates against complacency and said the defending champions cannot afford to take any side lightly. “In Twenty20, there is no such thing as a weak side, any individual can take the game away from you. We also can’t live on or relish the memories, we have to turn up and do everything from scratch again, it’s not about the past,” Dhoni said pointing to their triumph in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years back.

“Cricket is a very cruel game, the moment you relax, your mind find yourself in trouble,” added Dhoni.

The India captain felt that having the same bunch of players in the team for the last few years has also helped his side. “I’ve got quite a few grey hairs. That’s one change,” Dhoni joked when asked how the team had developed under him. “In the last three years there have been few changes in the side. We have played 80 to 90 ODIs together, that’s the plus point, it also helps me personally. I can pick ideas according to situation. Also fielding has improved, we have raised the bar.”

India begin their Group A campaign against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

Tags: India, MS Dhoni, T20 World Cup 2009