NEW DELHI, Feb 16(TOI): Krish Srikkanth, the chairman of the selection committee, says this is the best opportunity for MS Dhoni and his men to win the World Cup back. Apart from India, he also rates teams like Australia, Sri Lanka and England highly. Excerpts from an interview:
How do you rate India's chances in the World Cup?
We have a very balanced team and this is the best chance to win the Cup back. There are four to five match-winners while others can play the balancing role. When we won the World Cup in 1983, there was no pressure on us unlike the present lot. Our Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev's allround skill was a big inspiration for the team packed with allrounders. Similarly, this Indian team has a lot of allrounders. This gives me hope.
How do you rate the other teams?
Australia are a good team. They are fighters and have a positive and aggressive attitude. But I am sure the defending champions are going to miss Mike Hussey. I also rate the Sri Lankans very highly. They have a good bunch of useful allrounders and two good spinners. England are also a good team today. They have quite a few attacking batsmen and a couple of useful spinners. I am also not ruling out teams like South Africa and Pakistan.
How do rate the teams in India's group?
I think every opposition is equally important but the opening match is always crucial. In 1983, we beat West Indies in the opening game and that win gave us a lot of confidence. This time again, we will have to the start with a bangto get the required confidence.
There seems to be a lot of competition for slots in the playing XI and some headache too for the team management...
It's a happy problem and a healthy competition among the teammates is the best possible scenario one can ask for.
Will India be using Piyush Chawla as a special weapon?
A leg-spinner is always handy. A good leggie is always a match-winner. I am glad Chawla has started off well but I am also very happy about the way the rest of the spinners bowled in the practice match against Australia. Ashwin was very effective and Harbhajan Singh was his usual self. Even Yuvraj Singh has been quite impressive with the ball in recent days.
As the chairman of the selection committee, are you worried about India's batting display in the first practice match?
You shouldn't be reading too much into it. We have the best batting line-up in the tournament and I am very confident that the batsmen will deliver.