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India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni showered praise on off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and opener Shikhar Dhawan for their standout performance in the ongoing ICC World Cup.

“The spinners have really bowled well. As far as Ashwin is concerned, obviously he’s someone that I always love to have, the reason being I always pushed him to bowl in the powerplays and even have used him whenever I’m in difficult situations. So he is really confident about his bowling. He understands his bowling well,” Dhoni said about his leading spinner, who has taken 11 wickets in five games so far.

“I believe he [Ashwin] has learnt a lot in the last few foreign tours. The good thing with him is that he keeps improving himself. Every time he’s part of the series, he sees the challenges and accordingly he improves. So it’s obviously good to have him, and it’s good to see him bowl really well,” the skipper said.

Dhoni also spoke about a player needing at least 15 minutes to get ‘into the zone’ when asked to comment on Dhawan’s performance.

“It obviously takes time but I have always said, it’s those 15 minutes that really changes everything. I’m glad he [Shikhar Dhawan] got those 15 minutes. What he’s doing well is making the most out of it. As you know you may go through tough periods where you may not score runs, and you may get good deliveries, but it’s important to think about the process,” Dhoni said.

“Whatever your limitations are, you keep improving on those areas. Whatever your strength is, you make sure that whenever it is in that particular area you make the most out of it by getting a boundary.”

Asked about how motivated the team will be facing Zimbabwe in an inconsequential game, the skipper said, “We’re highly motivated. If it comes to the points, we have qualified for the next stage, but still, it was a challenge in itself because the travelling issue that we had. A lot of boys didn’t get enough sleep before this game because of the time we landed and the travelling that we have to do and all of that.”

He also lauded the fielders for their brilliant effort, stating that the new crop of players have really raised the bar in the fielding department.

India will lift the WC trophy, says Ravi Shastri

Indian cricket team’s director Ravi Shastri, on Tuesday, said the defending champions were well on course to lift the World Cup trophy.

India thrashed Ireland by eight wickets to record their ninth consecutive win in the World Cup overall and fifth on the trot in the current edition to top pool B.

Indian cricket team coach Duncan Fletcher and director Ravi Shastri.

“It’s a good position to be in especially given that from now on, every game is a knockout. Once you start winning, you enjoy and feel relaxed, it’s when you lose that you want to stay locked in the dressing room. Right now, the team is enjoying, they are playing football, they are a happy unit,” Shastri said.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar echoed Shastri’s views and credited the team’s bowlers for raising their game at the big platform.

“The bowlers deserve all the credit. 50 wickets in five matches, it is a wonderful achievement. Lot of times, the batsmen tend to overshadow them and they don’t get credit but it is nice to see the bowlers getting some credit,” he said.

Talking about India’s campaign, Shastri said the side, which came into the tournament after a disastrous bilateral series against Australia, was confident of clinching the top honours.

“We were never here to fill in the numbers. We are not going to give any chances to any of our opponents and we are going to lift the trophy,” he said.

India beats Ireland by 8 wickets

India defeated Ireland by eight wickets in a Pool B cricket World Cup match at Seddon Park, in Hamilton on Tuesday.

Opting to bat, Ireland were cruising at one stage with scorecard reading 206 for three but Indian bowlers made a fantastic comeback at the back—end of the innings, claiming as many as six wickets for 32 runs in a phase of 6.3 overs.

In an astonishing record, India now have bowled out opposition for the fifth time in a row.

Niall O’Brien with a run—a—ball 75 that had seven boundaries and three sixes was the top—scorer while skipper William Porterfield’s patient 67 off 93 balls gave the Irish a platform.

However despite losing wickets in a heap, Ireland’s score is the highest among the five teams that have played against India. The middle and lower—order collapse hurt Ireland as Ravichandran Ashwin (2/38) was the most impressive Indian bowler on view although Mohammed Shami (3/41 got more wickets.

Umesh Yadav (1/34) got a bit of stick while Suresh Raina (1/40) did more than what was expected of him.

For the first time in the tournament, India’s new ball attack didn’t strike in the opening spell as Porterfield and Paul Stirling batted with a lot of positive intent. Both Yadav and Shami bore the brunt of their wide blades.

With hardly any movement in the air and nothing much off the pitch on a track that was not as pacy as it has been in Seddon Park over the years, Porterfield and Stirling backed themselves to play some audacious shots.

It started in the third over when Porterfield rocked back to a short delivery from Yadav and hit it over mid—wicket for a six. The India fast bowler then followed up with a fuller delivery which was then driven past the mid—off fielder.

Stirling also showed his intent as he lofted Shami over mid—wicket for his six. The 50 came in the 8th over and Ireland took advantage of the early field restrictions better than many of India’s earlier opponents.

The left—right combination doing well also meant that bowlers had to alter the line repeatedly which created problems. The pair added 89 runs at a quick clip before India’s best bowler on the day Ashwin beat Stirling in flight as he lofted one without reaching to the pitch of the delivery and Rahane at long—off took a simple catch.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav.

Ireland: William Porterfield (C), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O’Brien, Andy Balbirnie, Gary Wilson, Kevin O’Brien, John Mooney, Stuart Thompson, Alex Cusack and George Dockrell.