Duncan Fletcher: India force to reckon with post 2013 Champions Trophy success

As India gear up to face Pakistan, come their 2015 World Cup opener against Pakistan at Adelaide on February 15, coach Duncan Fletcher has stayed away from the limelight despite all the hype over the high voltage clash.

Though Fletcher shies away from predicting whether India can replicate their 2011 heroics this time around in Australia and New Zealand, the calm Zimbabwean definitely has not played down his side's chances of causing major ripples in the tournament, said the coach in an interview to 'www.bcci.tv'.

When asked about his first ever World Cup assignment with India, Fletcher confirmed that the 2013 Champions Trophy win in England has given the team enough confidence to perform in overseas conditions, which bodes well for the upcoming World Cup.  He stated that winning the Champions Trophy without losing even a single game showed that India had indeed become a force to reckon with in ODI tournaments outside India.

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On questions of the team lacking experience, Fletcher replied that India had played three ICC tournaments prior to the World Cup, and despite having only four survivors from the 2011 Cup win, believed that they had the ability to go the distance this time around too.

Fletcher also stated that India had the advantage of having their ODI squad as similar to their Test side, which in turn will help the younger players to learn from the experienced ones. He added that the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy experience would also hold the team in good stead, giving them an idea as to how conditions in Australia really are.

When asked whether the Carlton ODI tri-series against Australia and England would aid the team in any aspect, Fletcher replied in the affirmative and stated that India would get a fair idea as to how Australia and England really play. He also expressed happiness at the fact that India had managed to avoid the two teams in the initial part of the World Cup. 

Fletcher also expressed confidence in India's bowling attack despite the test series mauling against Australia, and hoped that Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav step up their game come the big tournament. He rubbished India's 'poor bowling form' and maintained that ODI cricket is a whole new ball game than the test format and expected his bowlers to improve by leaps and bounds.

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Coming to the batsmen, he heaped praise on Virat Kohli, after his stellar run in the tests against Australia, and hoped that the Delhi-dasher would inspire the rest of the team with similar performances in the World Cup. Fletcher maintained that conditions in Australia and New Zealand are much similar to that of England, and reiterated that the squad was picked keeping such factors in mind.

He also expressed satisfaction at the fact that India were to play two group games at Adelaide and Melbourne, venues which were incidentally also part of the test series, and expected the squad to learn from their earlier mistakes.  Fletcher pointed out MS Dhoni's ability to kep calm under intense pressure as the team's 'biggest USP' and maintained that India's biggest positive was their finishing in ODI matches.

He concluded by saying that Stuart Binny was included in the team keeping in mind the 'bowling all-rounder' spot in mind, and signed off by saying he was 'keeping his fingers crossed' ahead of the big match against Pakistan.