By IANS,
Johannesburg : Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the success of part-time bowlers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has given him more choices to explore at next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in England.
Dhoni said the IPL experience will put the defending champions in good stead in World T20 starting June 5.
Dhoni said: “Last year’s IPL helped the Indian team perform better in Twenty20 and One-day format. Hopefully this year’s tournament will take us to the next level.”
“The good thing you see in this tournament that will help us in ICC World Twenty20 is the emergence of part-timers who have done well. You see some of the hat-tricks that are taken in the tournament are by the part-timers, so that really is a big help,” Dhoni said Saturday.
Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina are some of the part-time bowlers who have got breakthroughs for their teams and Dhoni is keen to try them out in the World Twenty20 championships.
“Most of the spinners are part-timers who are a part of the side, they have bowled in pressure situations. Not much of spin, maybe the ball holds on a bit over here. But overall the experience will really count.”
“Yusuf Pathan bowled well when field restrictions were on. Even Harbhajan (Singh) and (Pragyan) Ojha bowled well for their teams during that period.”
Dhoni, who led India to World Twenty20 title here in 2007, also said the close matches in IPL will help the players remain calm and focussed in pressure situations.
“Most of the Indian batsmen and bowlers have been under pressure at different points in the tournament. They will handle the pressure well when it comes to an international T20 game also.
“There are loads of positives that will help the players who were part of the side. We have seen new domestic players coming up and performing at this level. Some of the players who didn’t really perform in last year’s IPL have put up better performance this year.”