A confident under-19 skipper Unmukt Chand on Friday said interaction with Sachin Tendulkar will help the team in their title defence Down Under.
Published: Aug 03, 2012, 10:53 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 03, 2012, 10:53 PM (IST)
India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand feels experience of playing in Australia will be helpful in the upcoming U-19 World Cup Down Under © Getty Images
Mumbai: Aug 3, 2012
A confident under-19 skipper Unmukt Chand on Friday said interaction with Sachin Tendulkar will help the team in their title defence Down Under.
“We interacted with Sachin. He tried to give a lot of positive feedback and shared with us some of the experiences he had in the past 20 years. He spoke on World Cup and on the pressure. He told us to be ourselves on field and not worry about other things. So it was very good for us,” Chand told reporters here.
The team leaves on Saturday for Australia for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, to be held from August 11 to 26.
The Delhi batsman said that playing three back-to-back tournaments had given a boost to team’s preparations.
“We started with the quadrangular series in India and followed it up with one in Australia three months ago. Also playing on the same ground in Australia in the World Cup will be a massive advantage. The timing of Asia Cup has been excellent preparation for all of us,” he said.
Chand, who himself is in good form, said his confidence is high with his recent batting performances.
Asked if there is too much pressure on the team to defend the title, the 19-year old said, “It is a new experience for us and it is a new tournament for us. We will not think about what we have achieved in past. We will take it as a new stepping stone in our career and try to do well for our country.”
On captaincy, the right-hand batsman said he doesn’t dwell on it too much while batting. “When I bat, I don’t think about captaincy at all. It’s only on the field that I think about it,” he said.
Coach Bharat Arun exuded confidence and said the bonding between the players will help the team.
Asked if the team is depending too much on the captain, Arun differed and said, “Unmukt has been brilliant but we have been getting consistent performances from the others. Each one has chipped in. It has been total team effort so far.”
“We are not looking at the oppositions. We have played against most of the countries in the last one year, except South Africa. We can draw a lot of confidence that we have beaten all six teams in the last one year,” he said. (PTI)
