‘We can pick up momentum’

• To be honest we didn’t play well in Sri Lanka. As a team we would not like to think of the Asia Cup because we had a poor tournament. We need to pick ourselves up and play well. We’ve played well in competitions against tougher teams in the last few years. It’s not so much about the other teams, but about picking ourselves up and about how we play. But we don’t know the conditions (in Holland) as yet, we can only assess once we reach there.

On playing three back-to-back tournaments:

• We’ll just take one tournament at a time. I think it’s good for us to have two tournaments before the Champions Trophy. We didn’t play well in Sri Lanka (Asia Cup). It’s good for us and we can pick up the momentum.

On Dravid still keeping wickets:

• That’s the best combination we have. You need depth in batting in one-day cricket today. That’s what has won us games many times in the past. I understand the question of grooming a wicketkeeper, but there’s no opportunity to groom when you’re playing for the country.

On what can a seventh batsman do if six fail to deliver?

• I’ve never believed in playing five genuine bowlers when Sachin, me, Sehwag or Yuvraj fill in for the fifth bowler. If an all-rounder does the job it’s better. Also the seventh batsman has often won us games. Yuvraj and Kaif have won under pressure so many times. I can remember the NatWest final, the qualifier to the finals in the Champions Trophy, and the fourth one-dayer against Pakistan at Lahore.

On Kaarthik being a good batsman as well:

• Yes, he is said to be a good batsman. He also has a century playing for India A. But we’ll have to see if he can deliver under pressure. We will see and find the best combination that can make us win.