Batting first will be Dhoni146;s preference

And they are not really treating the Scots as warm-up bunnies before the high-profile clash with the arch-rivals.

Before the match, most of the players said 200 is a good score in Twenty20. But that mindset has changed. 8220;Now I guess 250 is a safe score,8221; laughed Dhoni. 8220;Twenty20 is a very short form of cricket. Any batsman having a good day can take the game away. And having played Scotland very recently will helps us, because we can guess what their bowling attack is, and we know their batsman,8221; he said.

Even as Team India were carrying out alterations to the gameplan 8211; of bowling at the death, how to bowl with the new ball and giving finishing touches to other strategies 8211; at the net sessions held just across the road to the main venue, team manager Sunil Dev and video analyst Dhananjaya were watching the Scotland bowlers have an impact on Pakistan and later the Pakistan bowling.

India will have to be wary of the discipline that the Scottish bowlers showed today and the intensity of their fielding if they have to avoid any embarrassment.

8220;If my bowlers can bowl as well as they did today, I think we can manage to hold the Indian batting line-up,8221; said Scotland skipper Ryan Watson. 8220;I am hoping that the top-order is a bit rusty because Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar have been scoring the bulk of runs and most of them haven8217;t had the big scores,8221; he adds.

The conditions in Durban are different to Johannesburg 8212;- the climate, as well as the ground realities. Tall scores of 200 plus look unreal 8212; unless there is an exceptional knock 8212; and the strong southern sea breeze towards the evening will make for an interesting study of new ball influencing a batsman8217;s domain.

India, with two seam bowling all-rounders 8212;- Irfan Pathan and Joginder Sharma 8212;- is likely to be tempted to use both options, and is likely to take the gamble again with Ajit Agarkar, in spite of his expensive overs in recent matches. They may also have the two specialist spinners Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla.

Dhoni is in favour of batting first, despite the great chase last night by South Africa. And the notion that India have a stronger batting than bowling department may add to his resolve. 8220;I would love to bat first. It8217;s better to give the opposition a stiff target. It is easier than chasing a big total. If you see the guy batting six or seven, they are always under pressure to score over eight runs an over. With an inexperienced and young side, I think it will always be good to bat first, though conditions will have to be taken into account,8221; he added.

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are likely to open with Robin Uthappa at number three, followed by Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni in that order. The choice for the number six slot will be an interesting one. Dinesh Kaarthick was dropped for the last two matches against England, and to be in contention for a place in Twenty29 after losing his place in the one-day side seems a bit strange for a batsman. However, he remains India8217;s sole match-winner in this version, with his Man-of-the-Match performance against South Africa in India8217;s only experience of playing in this format. It seems likely that he will retain his slot in the team.

During nets, there were moments of madness with some out-of-the-box shots being tried out, and batsman specifically trying to play the ball in the region where the bowlers have left the gaps by announcing their fields. Innovations are fine, but India need to just play normal, conventional cricket to get into the groove first, and earn a victory to get into the Super Eight stage.

Dhoni supports that view, and pointed out all the proper cricketing shots that Gibbs and Kemp played in their chase. That way, the worst fears of Indian fans and the ghost of Caribbean World Cup will be allayed, and the Pakistan match, will remain just a routine affair.