New Delhi, Feb 14
Former India cricketer
Mohinder Amarnath believes that conditions in New Zealand will suit
Indian batsmen better than those in Australia at the 2015 World Cup
which starts Saturday.
"The conditions in New Zealand will
provide Indian batsmen more opportunity and options. It will suit their
style because New Zealand wickets - though they may seem so - are not as
quick as Australian wickets. Plus smaller grounds will come handy for
Indian batsmen," Amarnath, who was part of the 1983 World Cup-winning
India squad, told IANS in an interview.
India play their first
four World Cup league fixtures in Australia, after which they travel to
New Zealand to play two matches against minnows Ireland and Zimbabwe
March 10 and 14, respectively.
Amarnath, who is famously known
for clinching the World Cup-winning wicket in the 1983 final against the
West Indies, said one of the reasons for India's failure in Australia
has been the inability of the batsmen to adjust to the conditions Down
Under.
"The way Indian players bat against quick bowlers,
specially in Australia, they have not been able to adjust to the pace
and bounce. Probably they are trying to play too many shots which they
have not been able to play successfully because of their style, balance
and technique," said the 64-year-old, who was Man-of-the-Series at the
1983 World Cup.
India have been in Australia for more than
two-and-a-half months during which they lost the four-match Test series
0-2, lost all games and failed to make the final of the One-Day
International (ODI) tri-series against Australia and England. More
recently, they were once again hammered by Australia in a World Cup
warm-up fixture by 106 runs.
"The important factor from the
batting point of view is that the top order needs to have a good start
and someone has to carry on the innings till the end and only then you
have a chance to put pressure on the opponents," added the former
all-rounder, who was also Man-of-the-Match in the 1983 World Cup final.
"In
Australia and New Zealand, if you are a good backfoot player, you score
a lot of runs because this is what they are going to get from bowlers,
they are not going to pitch them up."
Though India haven't had a
good Australian summer, Amarnath says there is not much to worry about
when asked about the chances of the champions defending the title.
"World
Cup is a different ball game altogether. We should not be really
worried about how they fared in the tri-series. The tri-series helped
them in preparing for the World Cup. Also, India will play against
different teams in the World Cup all the time and not against one strong
or poor team," added Amarnath, whose international career ranged from
1969 to 1989.
What about Amarnath's favourites?
"There are
no favourites as such but the conditions will definitely suit teams
like South Africa and Australia because they are used to such wickets.
It helped India in 2011. New Zealand is the team to watch out for as
they have been playing good cricket. They have a good outside chance,"
said the former right-arm batsman and medium pacer.
"Sub-continental
teams have the same style and you can't predict who is favourite. It
depends on how well they can handle the pressure on the day and how well
you plan."
(Sandip Sikdar can be contacted at [email protected])
