MS Dhoni

The light moments before the game are always cherished, especially when the captains of all the participating teams show up for ritual events like- group photos, cordial interviews, chuckling talks and so on.

At the skippers meet, along with the thirteen other counter parts was present our Dhoni.

A quick leap into who said what about the cut-throat competition for the World Cup 2011, is here

• MS Dhoni – this event can be conquered by mere consistency feels Dhoni. He feels that, all the teams are in good touch and the long gap (long enough to rejuvenate) will help the teams to come back with a fresh strategy and mindset.
• Ricky Ponting – the captain of the team that clinched three WC titles in a row felt that WC is one event to showcase the skills to a mammoth height. Ponting just passed diplomatic comments by welcoming his fellow-skippers and the cricket fraternity to the WC season. He also promised a great and gripping show for the fans.
• The South Africa skipper, Graeme Smith seconded to the thoughts of Dhoni, he too emphasized on the consistency point. He did not fear or wasn’t apprehensive, without predicting much Smith said winning this WC is going to be an open affair, all the teams have an equal probability to win.
• Kumar Sangakkara – the Sri Lanka skipper, was very much affected by the fact that, home-ground pressure will be hard to handle. He said that winning this will not be any easy task for especially the host nations. Yet ending with an optimistic note, Kumar said that, playing in front of the home nation’ fans will be a memorable moment.
• Shakib Al Hasan – Bangladesh captain, was very much detached and felt zero pressure on his team. He agreed to the fact that the fans are expecting a lot from the team, yet they are not pressurized – he contradicted.
• If winning was the issue for many, Andrew Strauss, England skipper, had something else pondering in his mind. The fitness factor, he was little bothered that the team should get settled with the sub-continent climatic conditions for the coming six weeks. Adaptation was a chief issue for them.

The notes from the captains end here. When looking the group division, superficially it looks as though India is luckily grouped with less intensive teams like Holland, Ireland and so on. However there were several catch-22 moments in the past where teams like Bangladesh, West Indies and South Africa literally made the players sob to the losses.

The bifurcation doesn’t matter if the team is in form. It hardly matters with who you play; it just counts how you play.

This Saturday, the match between the co-hosts, India and Bangladesh will launch the onset of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

Tags: Andrew Strauss, Captains, Cricket, Dhoni, Graeme Smith, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting, Shakib Al Hasan, WC, World Cup