Thaindian News

Bangalore, March 5 (IANS) Ireland are no longer minnows for India after their dramatic victory over England, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted here Saturday.

“Defeat by Bangladesh in 2007 edition still haunts us, we do not take any opponent, including Ireland, lightly. We are focussed as it is an important game for us,” Dhoni told reporters ahead of their World Cup Group B match here Sunday at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

The team is going to stick to seven batsman-four bowler combination against Ireland. With paceman Ashish Nehra fit to play, Dhoni said a call on him would be taken before the match.

“All the 15 players are fully fit to play. So, we have a choice to make in place of a pacer or a spinner. Unlike in the warm-up game against Australia when it turned, the pitch has been quite damp and flat with sun beating down,” Dhoni said.

With their previous encounter against England resulting in an exciting tie, India will be looking for an all-out win over Ireland, who will be looking to spring another upset.

Lauding the heroic batting of Irish all-rounder Kevin O’Brien, who scored the fastest World Cup 100 off 50 balls, Dhoni said they will come up with a plan to contain him.

“Kevin played an unbelievable innings. We couldn’t really spot any specific weakness in his batting. But we saw him getting run out, so we may have to get him out the same way if he gets going again,” Dhoni said.

On the batting line-up, the skipper said a change in middle order may be necessitated depending on whether they bat first or second.

“We will adapt according to the situation. Though Virat (Kholi) has done a great job at number four, it would be tough to optimise his potential if he bats lower down. So, we may change the order to up the scoring rate by promoting Yuvraj or Yusuf,” Dhoni said.

Asked if he would persist with Piyush Chawla or bring in R. Ashwin as second or third spinner, the captain said if the opponents had more left-handers and vulnerable to spin attack, it would be better to have a leg spinner like Chawla who has variation and can also turn the ball.