'We will focus on our strengths'

When asked if India were planning to field a pace-oriented attack like other teams are mulling, Gambhir answered in the negative. “See, we can’t plan like the opposition,” he retorted while stressing that the teams needed to assess their own combinations and play accordingly. “We will go with our own strengths. We have a good quality set of fast bowlers who can dismiss the opposition and also a set of spinners who are really good. I personally think that a quality spinner is an asset and the quality will show irrespective of what the surface is,” he remarked.

Further commenting on India’s bowling unit the Delhiite said: “Our bowling unit has performed well. Zaheer (Khan), Harbhajan (Singh), Ashish (Nehra) have done really well. They look to dismiss the opposition. That is the only way how you can restrict the teams.”

The Indian vice-captain missed the game against South Africa due to a stomach bug, but looked in the pink of his health on Wednesday. “I am fit and I am looking for the big games. These are really important games and I am looking forward to them and play a big role in them,” he said.

In the last edition, India qualified for the Super Eights after beating minnows Ireland and Bangladesh and there performance in the second phase was nothing to shout home about. Gambhir pointed out that that is the difference between the two editions. “The difference between the last event and this year is that we played Bangladesh and Ireland in England. But this time around we played South Africa who are one of the best sides in the world. The win against them has given us a lot of confidence,” he pointed out. 

In the same breath he added that there is not much difference between the three sides (in the Super Eights) in T20 as every team looks to attack. “So we shouldn’t look at the opposition or worry too much about as to what they are doing. We would rather focus on our strengths and play to them,” he felt.

India are likely to run into Australia in their Super Eights opener. “Australia haven’t done well in T20s. The first time they lost in the semis and the next year did not qualify. So you can expect Australia to come back really strong. They have got some quality player in their side,” he noted.
DH News Service