We will not take any team lightly in CT: Dhoni

Shakespeare’s King Henry IV famously said, “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” Mahendra Singh Dhoni could probably vouch that’s the truest thing the ‘Bard of Avon’ ever wrote.

But there’s one place the Indian captain can relax and catch up on lost sleep. “I love to sleep on a flight. It gives me time to recover and relax. Of course, there are a lot of fun and games. We trouble each other a lot. But try not to disturb other passengers too much, if we are flying a commercial aircraft. But, I personally try to make the most of it. I just love to catch up on my sleep,” Dhoni revealed on the eve of the team’s departure, a long flight to South Africa for the Champions Trophy starting September 22.

Dhoni, however, is unfazed by the challenge the team faces ahead. What’s been worrying him most is the drop in the team’s fielding standards. “Fielding is an area of concern. We were disappointed with our efforts in Sri Lanka. We are working hard on it. Of course, misses on the field in a tournament like Champions Trophy can prove costly. We are not just concerned about the catching, but also direct hits, running between the wickets and the over-all ground fielding,” he said.

Dhoni, however, said that the team’s buoyed by the return of opening batsman Gautam Gambhir, who cleared a fitness test at the team hotel on Thursday. “Gambhir’s return will strengthen the team and he’s one player who can really make a difference,” the captain said.

Confident after lifting the Cup in Lanka, Dhoni said the team’s prepared for tough tournament. “We are in a tough group and it is important to be at our best from the start,” he said, insisting that the return of Rahul Dravid into the ODI squad is going to help them.

“It’s good to have a player like him (Dravid) batting at number three especially in South Africa where conditions suit fast bowlers. We have quite a few stroke players lower down the order and it’s important to give them a platform where they can launch their innings,” he said.

On the team’s one-day No.1 ranking Dhoni said, “We don’t think about the ratings. If we win, ratings will automatically improve. We are only bothered about things we can do. Other things will follow. We don’t really want to set a standard that we can’t reach. We don’t think about rankings or ratings, personally as well as collectively as a team.”