Hunger not complacency characterises India at ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup
There is bad news for India's rivals at the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup: their coach Venkatesh Prasad has detected hunger rather than complacency in the players' approach during the build-up to the tournament.
Brian Murgatroyd
31-Jan-2006
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Those players could almost be forgiven for relaxing after recent successes in the Afro-Asian U/19 Cup and against Australia which have ensured they are regarded as red-hot favourites to lift the trophy.
But Prasad told a media conference in Colombo on Tuesday he saw no sign of any relaxation in their attitude.
"They have been very committed and I am extremely happy to work with this bunch of players," he said.
"They have been fantastic and they know exactly what is required by the team, which is something we have focused on ahead of any individual goals.
"They have come up with their own mission statements and have set their own training and playing standards on their own without me.
"Those standards are keeping their feet on the ground. They know their jobs and it makes my job a bit easier because of it."
If that attitude is a concern for the teams India will face in the tournament then so, too, will be their approach to every game.
"A few have said to us we have got an easy draw but we do not think it is easy," said Prasad, referring to the fact his side has been grouped with Associate teams Scotland and Namibia as well as hosts Sri Lanka.
"The players know each and every game is important, no matter who we play. We respect opponents for who they are and it is a learning curve for us too, even if we are playing against the so-called weaker teams.
"The draw does not matter as, even if we had been drawn against those stronger sides, we would have gone about our business just the same."
Prasad did admit he and his players have allowed themselves to look beyond the group stage to possible opponents in the Super League, with a match up against one of the top sides from Group B, which includes the West Indies, Australia and South Africa, on the agenda.
"We have looked at the permutations and combinations if we make it to the quarter-finals," he confirmed.
"But that quarter-final is not until February 11 and we have got three matches before that on (February) 6th, 8th and 10th.
"To start with we will cross out the game on the 6th, then move onto the 8th and so on," he added.
The team arrived in Colombo after a training camp in Chennai which included three practice matches and Prasad said it was extremely successful preparation for what may lie ahead in the next three weeks.
"We had the camp there because we felt the weather and pitch conditions were similar to Sri Lanka," he remarked.
With India set to play all their matches at the R.Premadasa Stadium, Prasad said he had been speaking to Sri Lankans to try and establish how the pitch there would play.
"They tell me the wickets have been relaid," he commented. "I still remember Sri Lanka scored almost 1000 runs against us there in a Test (it was 952-6 declared in 1997, with Prasad taking 0-88 in 24 overs) but that was a long time back."
India's Group C matches are against Namibia (February 6), Scotland (February 8) and Sri Lanka (February 10).
The top two sides from each of the four groups in the tournament will progress to the Super League stage, which consists of knock-out quarter- and semi-finals and a final on 19 February.
The India squad is: Ravikant Shukla (captain), Piyush Chawla (vice-captain), Abu Nechim Ahmed, Saurabh Bandekar, Debabrata Das, Gaurav Dhiman, Ravindra Singh Jadeja, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohnish Parmar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pinal Shah, Rohit Sharma, Mayank Tehlan and Vijaykumar Yomahesh.
Manager - Dr G.Natarajan, coach - Venkatesh Prasad, physiotherapist - Dr Muthu Kumar.
The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2006 will take place between February 5 and 19. 16 teams are scheduled to play 44 matches in 15 days at five different venues in Colombo.