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India favourite, says Vengsarkar

Special Correspondent

Mumbai: Named ICC brand ambassador for the unveiling of the new ICC Twenty20 cup at the Reliance Mobile office here on Monday, Dilip Vengsarkar said he and his committee were in a quandary on how to go about selecting India’s Twenty20 team two years ago.

“Twenty 20 is rocking in India now. No one knows for certain the four teams that will qualify for the IPL semifinals. India was the last to accept the Twenty20 and I was in England when selecting the team for the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007.

“Fortunately I was in sync with my colleagues in Sanjay Jagdale, Bhupinder Singh, Venkatapathy Raju and Ranjib Biswal in the matter of team selection.

“When India held its nerve in the opening match and beat Pakistan in the bowl out, I was more or less certain that M.S. Dhoni’s team was capable of winning the World Cup. Winning the first match is always important, more significantly Pakistan and the rest was history,” said Vengsarkar.

Three wise men

The former chairman said he spoke to the three slip cordon fielders Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly before appointing Dhoni as captain.

“India was playing a Test series in England and I asked them the nature of the conversation that happens between Dhoni and them on cricketing matters. They said Dhoni had the ‘cricketing sense’. That was enough for me.

“He’s a fine batsman and wicketkeeper, but what clinched captaincy for him was the cricketing sense the three seniors told me. He had not even led Jharkhand then and my committee made him captain.

“We were all apprehensive and wondered how he would deal with the likes of Yuvraj, Sehwag and Harbhajan, but one could see that he was in charge and in full control in South Africa.

“The ICC Twenty20 in England will be a massive success. India will get massive support too. India is the favourite to win the cup. It has the potential and is capable of winning. The players are in form and fit too.

“There is a gap between the IPL final and the start of the event in England. They should use the gap to their advantage and not spend too much time on commercial shoots.

Pressure factor

“A team has to perform to the best of its ability in every single match and so any team can win the title in England, but I think India is capable of retaining the title.

“They should not be over confident and become complacent. They will be under pressure though,” said Vengsarkar.

He said Test cricket is the ultimate test for any cricketer. “We have seen three forms of cricket; Test, one-day and Twenty20 and all three have been successful. There should not be an overkill of Twenty20.

“But I am sure for India’s matches in England, 80 per cent of the crowd will be Indians and they will root for Dhoni’s team.

“I don’t think interest will dwindle because of IPL. It is country versus country in England.”

Vengsarkar and Sanjay Behl, Group Head, Branding & Marketing, Reliance Communications, unveiled the trophy made of silver and rhodium, designed in Australia and made in England.

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