Internet Desk: Veteran Indian pacer Ashish Nehra played down any complacency from the India team ahead of its match against Bangladesh on Wednesday in Bengaluru. India after losing their tournament against New Zealand last week , came back strongly against arch rivals Pakistan at Eden Gardens on Saturday crushing them by 6 wickets. Nehra said the team is aware of what needed to be done against the cross border opponents and insisted everyone is focused despite the pressure of winning its remaining two group league matches.
“Our mood is good. The kind of cricket we are playing in the last two to three months, we are all happy and satisfied. Hopefully, we would like to take it forward even further the kind of fire power we have, if put to use, we will definitely win the game,” he said.
The 47-run defeat against the Black Caps had badly affected India’s net run rate; the victory over Pakistan helped somewhat but skipper Dhoni has urged his big-hitters to ensure that the team does not have to play catch-up for too long.
While New Zealand looks well-placed to book a semi-final berth, after defeating India and Australia, there is a three-way fight between India, Australia and Pakistan to book the other last-four berth from Group 2 in the Super 10s.
Nehra, who has contributed significantly in India’s recent T20 success feel the team is pretty relaxed and are focusing at one game at a time.
“We are aware of the net run rate situation but it’s more important to win the game. We will take it one game at a time now.”
The veteran pacer is enjoying his role as a mentor for youngsters like Bumrah, Pandya, Shami and Bhuvi. “I am enjoying it. My job is very important to pass my experience which I gathered in last 16-17 years to Bumrah, Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. I am sure I am helping them,” Nehra said on the eve of Bangladesh match.
Asked to comment about their match against Bangladesh who have so far failed to live up to the expectation of putting up a decent show, Nehra said “Bangladesh have been playing good cricket for the last two to three years. The way they have improved is quite amazing. We will not take Bangladesh lightly. We have to play to our potential if we have to beat them.”
The slow bowlers have been making an impact in the tournament so far. Nehra feel more than that it depends on the type of wicket the match is being played.
“It depends where you are playing and what kind of situation you are in, because T20 is such of kind of format where the wicket definitely plays a big role. In Nagpur and Kolkata, slow bowlers came into play, and the match between England and South Africa saw sea of runs,” he said.
He also stood beside his Delhi teammate Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma who have so far failed to fire. “They didn’t score in last two to three innings, and that is why you are asking this question, but before the WT20 tournament Shikar played a wonderful knock in the Asia Cup final which won him man of the match, and somebody like Rohit Sharma also has performed well,” he said.
The left-arm pacer, however, was not aware of the ongoing India-Bangladesh rivalry on social media.
“I still use my old Nokia… I don’t use Facebook/Twitter. You’re asking the wrong person.”