India captain Rahul Dravid has told his team-mates to soak up the World Cup atmosphere in the Caribbean, but without losing focus.
PORT OF SPAIN: India captain Rahul Dravid has told his team-mates to soak up the World Cup atmosphere in the Caribbean, but without losing focus.
“The World Cup is about working hard and preparing right. It’s also about ensuring we have a downtime as well. We relax and enjoy the atmosphere. We enjoy the World Cup because it comes once in four years,” he said.
“I’d like my boys to soak up the atmosphere and to soak up everything that goes around the event, but obviously work very hard,” he said.
“We have to ensure we give the boys enough time to relax and take their minds away from cricket so that when they come back to the ground they are fresh and really keen to go out there and do well.” Dravid’s team arrived here on Monday for their Group B matches against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and debutants Bermuda, with the top two sides qualifying for the next Super Eight stage.
They play their first game against Bangladesh at the Queen’s Park Oval here on Saturday. Dravid said he expected his team to play hard cricket, irrespective of the opposition. “I expect the team to put up a very professional and clinical performance, irrespective of who we play against. We respect Bangladesh. We have seen what they have done against New Zealand,” he said.
“We have to be switched on for that game. I expect everyone to be switched on for every game in the World Cup.” Bangladesh pulled off a major upset when they beat New Zealand by two wickets in a warm-up game at Bridgetown in Barbados last week. Dravid said his team had been looking forward to playing against Bangladesh.
“We are happy to be in Trinidad. We do enjoy a lot of support here. We are looking forward to playing that game and I think the atmosphere will be very exciting,” said the Indian captain. India were concerned over the form of a couple of players, including opener Virender Sehwag, but the captain said the team were very close to solving the problems ahead of their campaign.
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