India confident of a successful T20 World Cup campaign

Colombo, Sep 14 (ANI): India's cricketers have expressed confidence about winning the ICC World Twenty20 for the second time and feel that the return of ace batsman Yuvraj Singh would be a boost for the team. Speaking to reporters here, medium pacer Irfan Pathan said that the mood in the dressing room was encouraging as Yuvraj Singh has been a vital cog of the Indian team.

"The atmosphere in the team is extremely positive. A lot of boys who were in the 2007 edition winning squad are here as well. The energy is very good.

We have been doing decent practice as well, we played a match also recently, although we lost it, but I am happy with our performance. The whole team is excited; also because of the return of Yuvraj Singh in the team, he is a major factor in the team and has a big role to play. So, hopefully we will have a great world cup," said Pathan.

Swashbuckling middle order batsman, Suresh Raina said that he would try to be useful for the team in the crucial first six overs of a match. "For me, to bat well depends on what number in the order I am batting at, because in the first six overs, I will have to take my chances. The first six overs will be very important in this world cup, for example all good teams like Australia, Pakistan and West Indies have very good batsman in the first six overs.

What is important for me is to get aggressive, and at the same time, I need to play my natural game," Raina said. Meanwhile, off spinner, R. Ashwin hailed the return of veteran off spinner Harbhajan Singh to the squad and said that his experience would be essential for the team. "I think it is very good to have a lot of options in the playing eleven.

Even in the 2011 World Cup, it was the same, we hade very good options in the side to bank upon and bring on our resources at the vital end of the tournament. So, you never know we might come with a West Indies or probably any other good side in the super sixes or in the semi finals stages of the tournament and we might require his resources," he said.

"It is always good to have his resources and someone with so much experience always comes in with a big plus. For me he has been a great hero all through my career, so to have him in the same side and actually draw from the experience.

He was a part of the 2007 world cup; he was a key factor in the team. So, we have the resources to bank upon and the experience there," he added. Members of the Indian cricket team arrived in Colombo city on September 12 for the ICC World Twenty20, which kicks off on September 18. India T20 squad for ICC World Twenty20 include Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, L. Balaji, Ashok Dinda, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh and Manoj Tiwary. By Praful Kumar Singh (ANI)