Newly-appointed India captain Rahul Dravid is looking forward to the challenge in the upcoming seven-match one-day international series against Sri Lanka, starting in Nagpur on Tuesday.
"I am feeling no extra pressure; I am excited. It means a few more responsibilities, but I will take it as a challenge," the ace batsman declared in Nagpur on Tuesday.
| |||||||||||
He also informed that left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh and opener Gautam Gambhir have not been included in the 13 for the match. He, however, declined to name the starting 12 or team line-up.
"The 12 will be named tomorrow morning. I don't want to talk on issues related to batting order and team composition, as we do not want to divulge any information to our opponents," he added.
The Karnataka batsman said the side is looking forward to Sachin Tendulkar's return to international cricket after a gap of nearly six months.
"It's a very positive thing to have Tendulkar back in our side. He is a great player and it's great to have him back."
This match will also be the first one-day international in India to be played under the new ODI rules - Supersub and Powerplay.
"For Super sub to work well, you need a bit of luck to go your way, and only then can you use the Super sub fully. Regarding the Powerplay, it will be a test in these conditions. It will be one of the things that will be taken into consideration when we plan out things," Dravid said.
Sri Lanka have enjoyed the upper hand over India in the last few one-day matches played between the two countries, but Dravid doesn't consider them favourites in the upcoming series.
"In ODIs you cannot label any team as favourites. They have played well against us lately, but in one-dayers the team that plays better on the day wins the contest. Therefore, I believe that there are no clear favourites or underdogs in the series," he said.
He also underlined concerns of India's inability to close out tight matches and failure to win finals.
"We have spoken about some issues where things have gone wrong in crucial situations. We feel that we have to force the play when it is a 50/50 situation. We need someone to stand up and be counted in critical moments. There is no magic formula for it. We just need to keep working on it," Dravid said.
Coach Greg Chappell, who is also under the microscope after the team's failure in the tri-series finals in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, said the pressure will be on the players and not him.
"The pressure will be on the players; after all, they are the ones who will go out in the middle and perform. We will look to concentrate only on our game and not worry about the external issues," Chappell said.
More from rediff