Adelaide:
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said “a bit of pressure was off” the defending champions’ shoulders after they started their campaign in the cricket World Cup with a 76-run win over arch-rivals Pakistan.
The match at Adelaide Oval was seen as one of the most anticipated in the tournament.
“It’s a bit of a pressure off since the hype and attraction is like that of a five-star hotel preparation where there is a lot of dressing on the top,” a smiling Dhoni told reporters at the post-match press conference.
Dhoni was at his pragmatic best after winning the first international match in two and half months and urged people not to differentiate success at home and abroad.
“At times, we try to give too much importance to Test series that we play outside India or tri-nation or a bilateral outside the country. I feel all of them are the same. We should be proud of winning at home and we should try to win outside also. There should not be any demarcation as to okay he has got a century, but he has to score in overseas conditions. So there’s no need to just add a but which actually adds pressure on the youngsters,” the skipper said after leading his team to win.
He elaborated, “When these youngsters score centuries in India, they get complimented but there’s always a but that follows and they say ‘but he has to score’. We all know we need to score outside the sub-continent. It is a challenge for all of us, but it’s not like every time whenever you get a compliment it’s followed by but,” Dhoni said taking at the dig at the critics.
He showed humility when asked about the 6-0 record against Pakistan in World Cup.
“Well, the record is good, but it’s something that I don’t want to get into because there will come a time when we will lose, irrespective of whether it happens this World Cup, next World Cup or four World Cups down the line.
“It’s not something that will stay until the world exists. No point in really thinking about it. As far as the World Cup record is concerned, we are definitely proud of it, but it will be broken at some point of time, skipper said in a philosophical tone.”
