MUMBAI // Mahendra Dhoni, the team captain, is confident India can retain the Twenty20 World Cup in England next month. In 2007, Dhoni led his side to victory in the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa with a second-string Indian squad, as the selectors had rested most of its top players after a tour of England and ahead of home series against Australia. This time the squad is much more experienced. The 2007 victory boosted the popularity of T20 cricket, leading to the subsequent launch of the lucrative Indian Premier League that has attracted top players from across the world. "The IPL has really helped young players get accustomed to pressure situations, and international cricket is all about handling pressure," Dhoni said. "I'm not worried about the batting or bowling form of my players. My only worry is that players don't get injured.
"I've got a team with outstanding talent. If we play to our potential, we can defend our title," Dhoni told reporters ahead of the team's departure for England later today. "We're going to give it our best shot. Each player wants to do something special." The second edition of the biennial T20 world championship will be played June 5-21 at three venues in England. "Being defending champions doesn't put any additional pressure on us," Dhoni continued.
"It's just an add-on pressure that we can handle. One cannot keep thinking about the outcome of matches, we can only focus on our preparation." India squad: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Ishant Sharma.
* AP
