‘If we play to our potential we’ll win Asia Cup’

Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his side would look to build solid partnerships in the middle overs to do well at the Asia Cup.

With the disappointment of losing the tri-series final to Pakistan behind them, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his side would look to build solid partnerships in the middle overs to do well at the Asia Cup starting June 24 in Pakistan.

“We have done well on the last tour to Pakistan (2006), but that’s in the past and has no relevance now. I agree with Muthaiah Muralitharan’s views (expressed recently that India were favourites) to the extent that if we play to our capabilities we can win the Asia Cup,” the flamboyant wicket-keeper-batsman said before the team left for Karachi.

“But we will have to be our best and I hope we can do it,” he added.

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Four-time champions India start their campaign in the six-team tournament, which concludes on July 6, with a match against minnows Hong Kong on June 24.

They take on hosts and arch-rivals Pakistan the next day at the National Stadium in what is billed as the revenge clash for Dhoni and his men, who were defeated by Shoaib Malik’s team in Bangaldesh in the tri-series final on June 14.

The other three teams in the fray, in a different preliminary group, are Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and UAE.

Dhoni singled out the middle overs as the most crucial phase and said if the team can keep enough wickets in hand while going at a rate of 4.5 or 5 then even 100 runs are not impossible to get in the last 10 overs.

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“We did well in the middle overs against Bangladesh and Pakistan in the league phase (in tri-series in Dhaka), but lost a few wickets in the final which put us under pressure (chasing Pakistan’s 315),” the Indian limited overs captain said a a pre-departure media conference.

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