With the enormity of India’s success under his leadership sinking in, India’s new captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he was excited but not unduly worried about leading the one-day cricket team against Australia in the series beginning from Saturday.

“It would be exciting against Australia, especially since it would be our first home series after the World Cup,” Dhoni said after the team’s felicitation at the Wankhede Stadium.

The 26-year-old Dhoni, who was anointed ODI skipper after Rahul Dravid relinquished the captaincy earlier this month, said he would look to the senior players for support in the series beginning Saturday. “There are senior players in the side who I can look for support.

Besides, Yuvi and Bhajji are also in the side... I don’t really think about the future, that will help me in the coming series,” he said in an interview to a television channel.

Asked if he felt any pressure of captaincy as Dravid quit citing pressure as a major reason to step down, the Jharkhand player said “it’s just five matches still. I have not reached that stage yet”.

Dhoni, however, agreed that it would be very hectic for him as he would directly head to Bangalore for the first ODI.

“I will be directly going to Bangalore and I’ll miss home a lot,” said the wicketkeeper-batsman, who is constantly on the job since leaving home in July for the long tour of United Kingdom and then straight away heading to South Africa for the Twenty20 world cup.

Being the underdog also helped the side, said Dhoni. “We were quite relaxed. In the very first team meeting, we discussed it. We were not tipped favourites, nobody expected us to reach the Super Eights or knock-out stage. And whenever the expectation is less, the determination is high.

“We did not do well in the World Cup (in West Indies) and so it was the perfect stage for the team. We took one match at a time and in the final, took it as just another match and that helped,” Dhoni said.

The triumph in South Africa was a momentous occasion for the entire team but Dhoni admitted he realised the magnitude of the achievement only after landing in the country.

“We were overwhelmed after the triumph. We could feel it was a great occasion but it was only after landing here that we realised how great it actually is.”

The entire squad hardly had rest as they landed in the airport and then travelled, crawled actually, 30-km to reach the Wankhede Stadium where a lengthy felicitation ceremony was awaiting them.

The jet lag, however, could not rob Dhoni of his natural sense of humour. “We are told that Mumbai is a city which moved fast. See, me and my boys have brought the entire city to a standstill today,” he quipped.