Dhoni says India will miss street-smart Praveen in WC
Bengaluru: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday said they would badly miss ‘street-smart’ Praveen Kumar in the upcoming World Cup as the pacer has been ruled out of cricket's showpiece event due to an elbow injury.
Praveen, who has been a vital cog in India's ODI scheme of things for a little over three years and was certain in India's seam attack in the World Cup, was ruled out on Monday after failing to recover from an elbow injury.
"It is very unfortunate that Praveen had to miss the World Cup. He featured consistently in the ODIs for us. He is a street-smart cricketer and he will miss him a lot," Dhoni said during a pre-tournament press conference here.
"But you can't really restrict injuries from happening to players," he added. Without mentioning the names, he also indicated that Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar all have recovered from their injuries and will be totally fit by the time India play their tournament-opener against Bangladesh in Dhaka on February 19.
"A few players are suffering from slight niggles, which is always there but nothing serious. Hopefully, nothing major happens to any player," the skipper said.
The World Cup has come in for its share of criticism from some quarters for its length which spans around 45 days, but Dhoni reiterated that a perfect scheduling is always difficult to churn out and the rest period between matches will help the players to recover from their niggles.
"As I have said earlier it is very difficult to form a perfect schedule and format. A tournament schedule will be either too long or too short but I am quite happy with the schedule. It will give us time to recover from small niggles," he insisted.
Dhoni also reiterated that pressure for his side is added responsibility and will not be a deterrent in their World Cup quest after 28 long years. "It (pressure) is an added responsibility. Whenever you play for India there is always pressure. But the good thing is that we have a very experienced team. Most of the guys have been there for 5-7 years and know how to handle pressure. We have some talented youngsters who can change the course of any game," he said.
Asked about the heavy burden of responsibility on his own shoulders in the tournament, the wicket-keeper batsman said, "I have been doing it for the last four-and-a-half, five years." He refused to give importance to the fact that the World Cup is being held at home after 15 years and said the event is just any other tournament for the Indian team.
"There is a lot of hype and expectation around the World Cup. But every series we have played so far there is always lot of expectation. Expectations will always be there but we need to consider it just as a big tournament," Dhoni said.
The Indian skipper said to taste success in the World Cup what India need is right strategies and not worry about other factors. "It is very important to have right strategy, always be ready with Plan B or Plan C and at the same time not taking any added pressure," he pointed out.
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