Mumbai: The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Indian team left for London on Friday morning to defend their World Twenty20 title.
The team would have a week in England to get used to the conditions. India have their first game of their title defence against Bangladesh on June 6. But before that they play warm-up matches against New Zealand next Monday and against Pakistan on Wednesday.
Most of the players in this outfit played in the Indian Premier League in South Africa and the team is regarded as favourites by quite a few experts around the world.
In a press conference before the team flew for England, skipper Dhoni said his team, though a little tired after the hectic IPL, was balanced and he was confident India would be able to retain the Twenty20 crown.
"I am happy with the balance in our squad. Hopefully, we can defend out title. When you play so many matches you do get tired, after all its a human body, but it (IPL) helped us a lot in terms of exposure and skills. So it was more beneficial for us," he said.
"It's very important to cope with the pressure in international events specially in the Twenty20 where you do not get time to recover and IPL helped the players handle that
well," he added.
Dhoni also said he did not feel the need of a pre-tournament camp after the IPL drill.
"It's not important to have a camp (when you have already got enough practice in match conditions)," he said.
Agencies
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