Mumbai: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that the upcoming tour of New Zealand will be an ideal exposure trip for his young brigade as it prepares to defend the World Cup, which will be held in just over a year's time in the Trans-Tasman nations.
"As far as experience is concerned, yes the next World Cup will be in Australia and New Zealand, so most of the players will get the feel, about the wickets. When I first went to New Zealand, the fielding position was very confusing. The shape of the grounds are very unusual," Dhoni said during his team's pre-departure press conference.
"We had to keep fine leg very deep and from a wicket keeping angle it looked like it was square leg. So it takes time to adjust. Overall, it would be a good exposure," Dhoni said at the pre-departure conference here today.
He predicted an exciting series in New Zealand and said that some of the matches could be high scoring, especially with the new ICC rules.
"The grounds in New Zealand are different. In most places, there are drop-in pitches. It has been seen that the matches can be high scoring, especially with the new rule changes. When we went last time, we had played according to the old rules.
"And according to the new rules, probably some of the matches could be high scoring. But it will depend on what kind of wicket we are playing the match. If it is a flat wicket, small ground, and if there is a good partnership, the batsmen bat well, then in that scenario you can see that there could be lot of high scoring matches," Dhoni added.
"In their team, they have lot of interesting talents, there are many new players who are doing well and it is also their home condition. So I think overall, it looks exciting. It looks like an exciting series. Let's hope for the best," he said.
The Indian captain said the previous series in South Africa yielded a lot of positives for the team, without elaborating.Following the twin series loss in South Africa, he refuted the general suggestion that the Indian team is lion at home and lamb abroad.
"If you see, in South Africa the last series we lost. Before that in the England and Australia series, we didn't perform that well. Apart from that, wherever we have gone, we have done well. We did well in West Indies, New Zealand and South Africa. This is a tagline that gets stuck to us... but for us, we like to do well as a team," he said.
He defended the team's performance in South Africa and said they played poorly and paid the price for it in the second Test at Durban.
"In fact, if you look at the South Africa series also, we played well in the Test series. We lost the second Test because of the two to two half hour session, we played really bad cricket, because of which, we were on the receiving end.
"Apart from that, our tours have been good. But we are seeing that because of the last series we played in England and Australia," he said.
The Indian skipper also pointed out when the teams from outside the subcontinent lose matches here, they don't get the tag.
He also stressed on the importance of valuing home conditions and said that it is important to hold fort in the home conditions.
"World over what we have seen is it is important to hold fort in your home conditions, and at the same time trying to do well outside as well. You will have to start valuing your heritage. When teams from outside the sub-continent lose, they don't start making turning tracks," he said.
Dhoni also said that the team needs the tail enders to contribute, if not with the runs then at least with the time spent at the crease.
"If you see how cricket is moving, your 8,9,10 and 11 have to contribute, because if they don't spend enough time in the middle, you also end up wasting one batsman-- maybe a number seven or a number six batsman--so that is one area we have to do slightly better.
"Even if they are not scoring runs, if they can hang around a bit of time, the batsman at the other end can score. We saw Ajinkya (Rahane) play in the last innings, something like that. If that is not the case, it becomes difficult for batsman at the other end," he said adding that it would add valuable 30-50 runs to the team total."
Asked if some of the players could have played in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final matches before the New Zealand tour as suggested by Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad, Dhoni said that it was a good decision to not allow the players to play in the domestic tournaments as they needed a break before the overseas tour.
"If the team leaves together then it is good. We got a 10-day break after the South Africa tour and a break is good. It is important to be mentally fresh. It was a good decision to give them off time," he said.
Stuart Binny is also part of the ODI outfit and Dhoni said the Karnataka all-rounder is interesting as he can be a handy swing bowler.
"I think Stuart is someone who is interesting. He has got swing. If you see most of the international venues, the wickets are flat especially in ODIs. That is the time we need to see how effective he can really be. Whether we can feature him as a third pacer is subject to how he can perform in the nets over there.
"At the moment, he is someone who can swing the bowl and also has the batting ability to bat down the order and score runs. He cannot be compared to some of the other players. He may not be someone who bowls at 135 kmph but if he can get the job done then it will be great," he said.
Jharkhand pacer Varun Aaron, who was impressive with his pace in the domestic matches, has also been drafted into the ODI squad and Dhoni said he would be playing with the new rules for the first time and will have to get used to it.
"Varun was injured for a long time and he has become fit again and performed well in domestic games. But individuals would have to step up, when you play with the new rule changes. You will have to be comfortable about your own bowling and you have to know your strengths. We will have to wait and see how they perform under pressure," Dhoni said.Dhoni felt there is healthy competition among the bowlers but an aspect they need to improve on is hitting the surface hard on dry pitches.
"There is more competition when it comes to the bowling department. The reason being, one year back, some of our leading fast bowlers had injuries and at that time we didn't have so many options," he said.
"But with all of them now becoming fit and available for selection and doing well in the domestic circuit, they have enough competition among themselves which is a healthy thing. They have to improve on wickets that are on a drier side. Most of the bowlers don't hit the surface," he added.
He further said that both the Test and ODI squads look settled but observed that most of the batsmen had not played many Test matches outside the sub-continent.
"It looks like a settled squad, which is good but at the same time we need to back individuals. If we talk about the batsmen, not all of them have played many Test matches outside the sub-continent. Almost all of them have played ODIs outside India and performed very well.
"It gives them confidence as they have the ability to perform outside the sub-continent. If you have the talent to perform in one format, definitely you have the talent to perform in other formats," he said.
Dhoni announces first edition of Bike Festival in India
Dhoni announces first edition of Bike Festival in India
Mumbai: India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has launched the first edition of Southeast Asia's largest bike extravaganza, the Bike Festival of India (BFI), which will be a unique platform for biking enthusiasts to come together to be a part of this first-of-its-kind biking adventure in India.
While adventure is an integral part of BFI, the most unique feature is that it accentuates the importance of safe biking.
South East Asia's leading biking festival, launched yesterday night, will bring together over 120 biking communities from across the country to participate in a series of events as part of the festival.
The finale of the event will be held in October this year at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida.
Dhoni, who himself is a bike enthusiast, said he was excited to be a part of the initiative.
"Biking for me is a passion, which is why I am excited to be part of this initiative that not only is an adventure in its form but also promotes safe biking. BFI will be an annual platform for the biking community to meet, interact and share adventures together," said Dhoni.
"Meeting with the presidents of various biking communities from all over India has been enlightening and I look forward to joining them sometime on the track," he added.
The Festival will start off with a cross-country bike ride in the first quarter of 2014, mapping each and every state in the country. This will be at least a month long and is expected to put India in the Guinness World Records. This will be followed by a racing championship at BIC in March.
Thereafter, the BFI will also host a Dirt Bike Championship and a Rally Championship. The festival will feature a series of competitions such as stunt riding, wheelies, burnouts, stoppies and group rides. In addition, there will also be several off track competitions such as weight lifting, arm wrestling, bench press, push ups and food festivals.
