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'Indians will do well', says Srikkanth

Former India skipper Krishnamachari Srikkanth exuded confidence that the side "will do very well" in the seventh World Cup competition beginning in England in May.

Talking to newsmen after unveiling the World Cup in Bangalore, the master blaster said the main strength of the Indian team was its bowling which he described as "excellent". Speedsters Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Ajit Agarkar would excel in English conditions, while all rounders like Sachin Tendulkar, Ajay Jadeja and Saurav Ganguly would also be a force to reckon with, he pointed out.

"We have a good edge in bowling", he added.

Asked about his favourites for the Cup, he said India, Australia and South Africa should be favoured to win the quadrennial tournament. England, who are claiming to rebuild the team, should be the other team to figure in the semi-finals, he said.

A member of the 1983 Cup-winning team, Srikkanth drew a parallel and said that even then, Indian bowlers had done a good job. He named Roger Binny, Mohinder Amarnath and Balwinder Singh Sandhu as the ones who had done well in England. "One should not not try to assess the performance of Indian bowlers on the conditions in sub-continent. It is altogether a different story in England where the ball does a lot", he said and emphasised that "we have a good side".

Asked whether his team ever thought of winning the Cup, Srikkanth candidly admitted, "No we never really thought of winning. We didn't expect to qualify for the semi-finals. Because of team effort, we won".

Asked about the glorious shot he played off Andy Roberts, he said "It was an instinctive shot. Only little master G R Vishwanath could play the shot. I remembered about Vishy, who was in the dressing room, after hitting the shot", he revealed.

On his batting style, he said after few years, people had started accepting his shots. It was called "ada-teda" style when he hit the bowlers over the heads of fielders. Now now everybody says that it was the best way to play one-day cricket. From school days, he had loved to loft the ball, he added.

Also as part of the Pepsi campaign to build up cricket fever, a Pepsi and MTV World Cup concert was held in the city in which well known pop singers like Usha Uthup, winner of the Filmfare award for best performer Kamaal Khan and Anaida, and MTV VJs Amrita Arora and Nikhil Chinappa participated.

UNI