AFP
MELBOURNE, March 18
India are settled, in winning form and are well accustomed to Australian playing conditions for their pressure World Cup quarterfinal with Bangladesh at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, batsman Suresh Raina said on Wednesday.
The defending champions have won all their six group matches, bowled out their opposition in the process taking 60 wickets, and are ready for the knockout rounds, starting with Thursday's quarterfinal.
Raina, whose unbeaten 110 helped India chase down Zimbabwe's 288-run target for a hard-fought six-wicket win in their concluding pool game in Auckland last weekend, says the Indians are ready to "express themselves."
It's been a marathon buildup for India in defence of their World Cup crown, starting last November for their win-less Test and one-day matches in Australia. But the rewards appear to be coming for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team, brushing aside all comers in Pool B and now with modest-performing neighbouring Bangladesh blocking their way to a likely semifinal with co-hosts Australia or Pakistan next week.
"We've spent a lot of time in Australia for the last four and a half months now so it's like we 're used to the conditions more than other teams," Raina told reporters.
"People are really pumped up for the quarterfinals. We have done really well in the last six games. It's the quarterfinal stage now, you don't have much room for error. You just need to do everything right, whether you're bowling, batting or fielding. The main World Cup is going to start tomorrow."
Ninth-ranked Bangladesh have made the quarterfinals for the first time after beating England, Scotland and Afghanistan along with a rained-out point with Australia.
"You can't take Bangladesh lightly, they have done well against India, especially in the Champions Trophy and we lost against them in the 2007 World Cup and we lost against them in the Asia Cup," Raina said.
"So their players have been playing a lot of cricket in the Indian Premier League. They know how to play one-day cricket now."
But Raina said it is down to India to reproduce their skills and the rest will take care of itself.
"All the games in quarterfinals are going to be in pressure situations. We just need to go there and play to what we have in the dressing room," he said.
"We have played a lot of matches against them and we just need to play positive cricket, we need to be more disciplined. We need to bowl well. We need to field with energy."
Raina, who believes he is a more mature cricketer after playing a limited role in India's 2011 World Cup triumph, said he is prepared to bat at number four or five in the order. "It depends on coach and captain what they are asking me to do," he said.
"We always have a lot of meetings before the main games about what sort of bowling attack they have and what sort of batting I have to do with the tailenders. At number four I need to spend more time at the wicket so I can play strokes later on. I think I've done that really well in the last couple of years.”
"So whatever the team needs me to do it I need to prepare myself because at the end when India win that's more important than me batting at four, five, six."
