Adelaide: The Indian cricket team has been bogged down by the bowlers' poor form in recent times but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday said that the batting line-up also lacked depth as compared to other sides taking part in the World Cup beginning next week.
Dhoni said that his side will have to preserve wickets to score more runs at the slog overs as the batting line-up was not that deep. He also said that the batting order will not be fixed and will be changed according to the situation.
"We are not that deep when it comes to batting and are different to other teams. Wickets in hands is our strength and once we have wickets in hand we can really exploit the conditions. You have to pick options and learn to score runs freely. Also, we have to alter out batting order according to the conditions," Dhoni said at an open media session ahead of the World Cup which begins in Melbourne and Christchurch on February 14.
Batting has been India's strength traditionally, and it may decide the country's fortunes in their defence of the World Cup as most of the bowlers have been struggling. Dhoni's comments that the Indian batting has less depth than other teams could mean that it could be a tough job to defend the title they won in 2011.
He said batting and bowling in the middle overs will hold the key to India's success in the tournament.
"What is important is to adapt to the conditions and the middle overs. Bowling in the middle overs will also be crucial because that will put pressure on the opposition which will put a cap on the scoring from the 35th over onwards and the slog. We have not had much opportunity to bowl in the slog overs which is something that will come into action when the World Cup starts," said Dhoni.
The build-up to India's World Cup campaign has not been rosy as they lost the Test series against Australia 0-2 and failed to register a win in the subsequent ODI tri-series. But Dhoni said that was far from worrying the Indian camp as the side can come up trumps during the showpiece event as it did in earlier ICC tournaments.
"Even while playing the ICC Champions trophy, we were going through a rough patch. But, the guys stepped up during that tournament and we played very consistently which counts," he said.
