Mumbai, Sep 15: As the Indian team prepares for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, which starts next week, switching gears and adapting to the conditions in Sri Lanka quickly will be vital for them. Ravichandran Ashwin, who has emerged as India’s key wicket-taker in recent times and was also the Man of the Series after claiming 18 scalps in the two Tests against New Zealand, interacted with the media in Colombo.
Speaking on the occasion, the off-spinner said, "We started [preparing] for the World Cup three-four days back. We have been playing Test cricket and now we have to switch over to this tournament. The good thing is that we have got a week's time in Sri Lanka to prepare for the ICC World T20.
"It is a mind switchover and physical switchover for the bowlers in terms of lengths, lines and the amount of variations they have to bring into the game. This particular preparation would be ideal for us," he added while citing India’s two warm-up games ahead of the tournament.
The 2011 ICC World Cup champions haven’t been up to the mark in the last two World T20s after winning the inaugural tournament in South Africa back in 2007. Team India will be hoping to carry forth the momentum of their series wins against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, and will also be hoping to redeem themselves after forgetful tours abroad last season.
"We won the 2007 [ICC World T20] and then this format has eluded us. We didn't do well in the last two [World T20s]. Now to put in faith and win this is critical for the team, in the sense that we [would have] have done a good job. Over the last year we had a tough time in Australia and England. To resurrect that and actually to do a good job here is important to everybody," Ashwin added.
India’s first warm-up match is against hosts Sri Lanka on Saturday; they will also take on Pakistan on Monday in their second warm-up fixture.
