India Leave For England to Defend World T20 Title

Fast bowler Zaheer Khan was expected to recover from injury before the second group game.

Mumbai: Despite fitness concerns over pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and the players' fatigue factor looming large, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Friday optimistic about India retaining the World T20 Championship in England.

"We have a very balanced side, very strong in batting. We bat right down to 8 or 9. This is not to say we lack in bowling. We have a strong bowling attack too," he said before departing with teammates for London.

"We have some outstanding talents in our team and we need to focus on playing to our potential without worrying about the result. We have to give 100 per cent and hopefully we can defend the title," he said about the team's prospects in the tournament starting June 5.

Dhoni said the team's most experienced pacer Zaheer Khan was less than fully fit and hoped the injured left-arm bowler would be available for the holders lung-opener against Bangladesh on June 6 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

"India's hopes of retaining the World Twenty20 title next month were boosted on Friday with news that pace bowler Zaheer Khan was expected to recover from injury before the second group game," says Dhoni.

"Zaheer is most likely to get fit by the second or third game...not exactly sure...He's not 100 percent fit for the first game," captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.

Zaheer, India's leading bowler over the last two seasons, underwent rehabilitation in South Africa after picking up a shoulder injury during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa.

The 30-year-old left-armer was in the Indian team that left on Friday for the tournament with a five-man pace attack to exploit seam-friendly conditions in England.

"We have got talent like Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh who can really swing the ball, and (Irfan) Pathan," Dhoni told a media conference prior to the team's departure.