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Winning T20 WC in Sri Lanka critical for team: Ashwin
With less than a week to go for the ICC World T20, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said winning the coveted trophy after a gap of five years will be "critical" for the team after last year's Test reverses in England and Australia.
"We won the 2007 World Cup and then this format has eluded us. We didn't do well in the last two World Cups.
"Now, to put in faith and win this World Cup is critical for the team, in the sense that we have done a good job, but over the last one year we had tough time in Australia and England. To resurrect that and actually to do a good job here is important to everybody," Ashwin said on Friday.
Ashwin, who will turn 26 on Monday, said winning the tournament is a long process.
He added that the team is trying to acclimatise to the conditions and is focussed on drawing maximum positives during its stay in the Island nation.
'Winning this World Cup is a long process'
India start their campaign against Afghanistan on September 19.
"Winning this World Cup is a long process. It is a 20-day long tournament and it is going to be another five-six days before the tournament begins.
"We actually get in to the tournament with a couple of practice games, and drawing as many positives as possible is very crucial for the team.
"... so from there we will take it on. Definitely, at the back of mind, everybody knows that it is a very crucial tournament for us," he said.
The Chennai lad, who returned a rich haul of 18 wickets from the just-concluded two-Test rubber against New Zealand at home, said it will be a test for the bowlers to switch from the longer format of the game to the shorter one.
'We have started preparing for the WC three-four days back'
"We have started [preparing] for the World Cup three-four days back. We have been playing Test cricket and now we have to switch over to this tournament. The good thing is that we have got a week's time in Sri Lanka to prepare for the World Cup.
"It is a mind switchover and physical switchover for the bowlers in terms of lengths, lines and the amount of variations they have to bring into the game. This particular preparation would be ideal for us," Ashwin said.
Meanwhile, left-arm medium pacer Irfan Pathan was upbeat ahead of the team's practice game against Pakistan on September 17.
"We are going to look forward to win that game. We are playing Pakistan after a long time. Especially, I am playing against them after a long time. Since three years I have not played against them. Really looking forward to play against Pakistan and perform well," Pathan said.