Thaindian News

Mohali, Mar 29 (ANI): Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today strongly urged his teammates not to get carried away by the hype surrounding Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final game against Pakistan.

“Well, when you talk about the hype and the pressure and everything else, you know, one thing for sure, whether you are thinking about it or you are not thinking about it, I don’t think it really helps you perform,” Dhoni told reporters here.

“So, what’s not helping you perform is a thing that needs to be kept away and what needs to be done is topping of the skills, having a close look at the players as to how fit they are and if anything needs to be done and these are the vital areas where we have been focusing so far, not thinking about all the other things that are going around cricket because I don’t think they will help us in any way to perform on the field,” he added.

Commenting on Pakistan’s bowling attack, Dhoni said: “I think they are a very good bowling attack, they have got bowlers who can bowl quick and at the same time their spinners have been doing really well and they have got part timers, who can contribute.”

“Its quite similar to the sub-continental team where the part timers usually are the off spinners or the left arm spinners or leg spinners, who often contribute and since they have a couple of bowling all-rounders with Razzaq and Afridi, that gives them the liberty of playing with more than five bowlers,” he added.

A confident Dhoni further said Team India is eyeing at the 2011 World Cup match by match.

“We all know it’s a big tournament, we have prepared a lot for it and its better to take it one game at a time, we are playing the semi-finals but the most important thing is how we prepare yourself irrespective of what state it is, I think you need to prepare in the same way and that’s what we have been doing for the past few days,” he added.

Hosts India will encounter Pakistan in the second semi-final of the World Cup in Mohali on Wednesday. (ANI)