COLOMBO:
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni heads into the Super Eights stage
of the World Twenty20 this week delighted to have the enviable problem
of which player to leave out.
A revamped India condemned
England to their heaviest T20 defeat -- by 90 runs -- in Colombo on
Sunday after bowling the defending champions out for their lowest T20
total of 80.
India rested three regulars -- seamer Zaheer Khan,
spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and opener Virender Sehwag -- for the group A
match because both teams had already qualified for the Super Eights.
Veteran
off-spinner Harbhajan Singh marked his return to the Indian team after a
year with 4-12, including a wicket maiden in his first over, and
leg-spinner Piyush Chawla took 2-13.
With Ashwin, Harbhajan and
Chawla fighting for the spinners' spots in the Super Eights and a
settled batting order to choose from, Dhoni said his team was well
prepared for the next battle.
"We do have a problem of plenty,"
Dhoni said. "But I can assure you, a problem of plenty is better than
not having that one extra guy.
"But bigger teams await us and we
need to be consistent. In every match, we have to be at our best.
Hopefully, we will do that in the next three matches."
India face
Australia, South Africa and either Pakistan or Bangladesh in what is
being touted as the "group of death", from which the top two will
advance to the semi-finals.
India, who recorded successive wins
against Afghanistan and England in the first round, will remain in
Colombo for the next stage and play in the familiar surroundings of the
Premadasa Stadium.
Dhoni praised the 32-year-old Harbhajan, who
was recalled for the World Twenty20 after being sidelined due to injury
and poor form since August last year.
The Indian skipper refused to speculate which spinners he will pick in future.
COLOMBO: Kamran Akmal smashed an unbeaten 92 off 50 balls as Pakistan came from behind to defeat India by five wickets in a warm-up match for the World Twenty20 on Monday. 