We are confident of winning back-to-back world cups: MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni

Indian skipper MS Dhoni expressed that he would like to see Team India to be the third team in the history of cricket to win back-to-back world cups, an achievement held only by the mighty Australians and West Indies, by winning the 2015 ICC World Cup. Dhoni shared his confidence in his team, which he claims to be shaping up nicely for the up-coming world cup.

In a press conference on Friday, to mark the ‘one-year-to-go’ occasion before the 2015 World Cup, Dhoni said, “It is amazing to think that it is just one year until we defend our ICC Cricket World Cup title as that means it is almost three years since we won the trophy on that amazing night in Mumbai. The memories of that night and of the whole tournament are as fresh and as special as ever.”

“We know that defending the ICC Cricket World Cup is something that only the West Indies and Australia have done over the whole history of the tournament but with the quality we have in and around our squad we believe we can become the third side to do it,” he added.

The prestigious tournament, hosted by New Zealand and Australia, is set to begin on February 14, 2015, and will go on till March 29. With India’s opening game against Pakistan in Adelaide on 15 February, Dhoni hopes to make this his second world cup win as the skipper of the Indian side. The wicketkeeper-batsman himself scored the winning runs that got India the 2011 ICC World Cup.

The 32-year-old added, “We have a group of players who are experienced at playing in high-pressure situations and we have already shown we are capable of dealing with the dual pressures of being world champions and coping in overseas conditions at a major ICC event by winning the ICC Champions Trophy in the UK last year.”

The world cup returned to India after 28 years; it was brought home for the first time by Kapil Dev’s team back in 1983. West Indies won their back-to-back trophies under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd in 1975 and 1979, whereas Australia won a staggering 3 back-to-back world cups with skipper Steve Waugh(1999) and Ricky Ponting(2003 and 2007).

“Although we did not win our latest ODI series in New Zealand, it has given us valuable experience of what we can expect in 12 months’ time. The next year is now all about getting our plans in place and remaining confident and if we can do that we will be in a good place by the time the action starts next February. I remember the joy that winning Cricket World Cup brought to all Indians all over the world in 2011 and we want to do the same again by playing to the best of our ability in 2015,” he said.

Michael Clarke, who will be captaining the Australian side commented, “The ICC Cricket World Cup is the pinnacle of one-day cricket and we’re thrilled that it’s going to be held in our own backyard.” Australia will be playing England on the first day of the tournament at the MCG.

“The best players in world will be coming to Australia and New Zealand and we’re looking forward to playing good entertaining cricket. I encourage as many Australians and New Zealanders as possible to get behind this amazing event,” Clarke added.

New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum was also available for a comment. He said: “We’re travelling well at the moment with a number of young guys having stepped up against the West Indies and India. The team has had tremendous support over the summer, so we’re keen to continue our current form into the World Cup and get the whole country behind us.”

MS Dhoni, who is currently ranked 6 in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, is confident of a great performance from his team despite the testing times against the Kiwis in their on-going series.