Indian coach Duncan Fletcher feels that the current team has a great chance of replicating the success of ICC World Cup 2011 given the fact that the mindset they possess to win the big tournaments.
Fletcher said:
“We have played three ICC tournaments in the last three years – the ICC World T20, 2012-13 and 2014, and the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. And people will be surprised to see that we have only lost two games in all of which one was the final. That is quite a record to be proud of. And the team in all those tournaments was more or less the same. So, these boys do have the experience when it comes to the big tournaments and they do know how to win them.
“What makes this team special is that over the last few years they have faced all kinds of situations in the limited overs cricket and have shown they are capable of coming out successfully from all of them. That’s why I say that we have a good chance to win this World Cup.”
Fletcher also expressed that playing Australia and England in the tri-series is a huge advantage to the team as they’ll have a good chance to have a look at both of them for the crucial stages of the World Cup.
“Playing the tri-series just before the World Cup is a great idea for us in getting used to how the white ball behaves here. What’s more is that we don’t play these two sides (Australia and England) in the group stage and this series will be a good chance to have a look at them for the advance stages of the World Cup,” he said.
When asked about India’s overseas bowling woes, Fletcher said that it’s just a matter of gaining experience in such conditions and in the upcoming overseas tours, they’ll surely win India a lot of matches.
“You look at the highest wicket-takers in the Test series. (Mohammad) Shami (15 wickets at 35.80) has taken more wickets than (Mitchell) Johnson (13 wickets at 35.53) at a similar average. And this was Shami’s first tour here. Umesh Yadav (11) has only one less wicket than Josh Hazlewood (12). And this is after being in and out of the Test and ODI team on a regular basis, which is not good for the confidence and rhythm of any bowler. For these bowlers it’s just the matter gaining experience of bowling in these conditions. It was something that Ishant showed right through the series,” Fletcher added.