Team India fully equipped for World Cup: Dravid

BANGALORE: Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid has send out an ominous signal to World Cup rivals, saying his team was not only motivated but "fully equipped" to
do well in Caribbean conditions.

Dravid said his players were not unduly bothered about the nature of pitches in the West Indies and were motivated in fetching the desired results.

"I don't want to go there with any pre-conceived ideas that wickets will be slow or fast. I believe that we've got the team that can do well in all conditions if we play to our
potential," Dravid said.

Most of the pitches have been relaid for the cricketing extravaganza starting March 13 and there has been a lot of speculation about how they will behave.

Speaking to reporters after a panel discussion here last night, Dravid said that the Indian team had the talent to take on the big challenge ahead.

"Our chances in the World Cup are good. Hope we play to our potential. We have the talent and it's only a question of our performance now.

"World Cup is a unique event. If you get on a bit of a roll there you can crack whatever the opposition you are facing like we did the last time. It's a question of performance in the two months that matters," said Dravid.

Talking about dealing with non-performers in the team, he said honesty was the best policy.

"Honesty is the best way to get the message across to a non-performer. I think we've to be honest to people. Not that we're trying to find a solution for them. We always believe that we try to make every one a better player," he said.

The team formulates the rules itself deciding on the best course of action, Dravid said.

"What we found over a period of time is that if a team makes the rules, it's for keeps. That's one way of keeping everyone together, of uniting the whole group and everyone
feeling part of it. That has worked well for us within the team," said Dravid.

Talking about the motivational factor, he said the amount of cricket played these days did take its toll.

"My general answer for this for a long time used to be why do we need to motivate someone who is playing for India.

Every time you come on to play for your country, that itself is a motivation. But having led the side over a period of time I've realised that the amount of cricket we play we do need to motivate people," the captain said.

"One of the best ways we have found for motivation is to give them more and more challenges. Lot of these cricketers are ambitious young men and really keen on succeeding and doing well.

"If you give them the same rules time and again, make them do the same things there is a chance that they may stagnate or may not grow. I think that's the worst thing that
can happen to a team. For us to grow as a team the individuals in the team need to grow."

"We've got to give them new challenges, give them new positions to bat in, may be hold them in different situations. Give them something that's exciting constantly. If we can provide that, it really works well in fetching results. If they know that you really care about them succeeding as individuals they respond quickly and come to the party very quickly," said Dravid.

But it's different rules for different people, he felt.

"It's different rules for different people. From cricket point of view where we stand in the history of the game, what we would like to be remembered as at the end of our careers, people we can look up to, like mentors or great performers of the past, are all motivation factors for us," Dravid said.