S Sreesanth says his own expectations after a successful Test series in South Africa may have resulted in a patchy performance in the recent one-day games against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

The right-arm pacer said that in trying too hard to take wickets he forgot the basics and thus returned with expensive figures.

"The mistake I did was in thinking too much about taking wickets (in the first few matches in India) after taking 18 wickets in three Tests in South Africa. My expectations of myself became high that I am a match-winner and needed to get wickets," Sreesanth said.

"Maybe I was trying too hard. I was not bowling in the right areas and instead was focusing more on getting wickets and went for runs.

"But now I have learnt to think big and then lower my goals. That's what I did and it's working. I am hitting the right areas. I am bowling pretty well and I am confident."

Sreesanth, who will train at the MRF foundation in Chennai for a couple of days along with Australian pace guru Dennis Lillee before leaving for the World Cup, said playing in the mega tournament would be a dream come true.

"I was not focusing on getting selected for the World Cup when we were playing matches, but focusing on current things as was told to us in team meetings. But, definitely, playing in the World Cup would be a dream come true," he said.

"I am a beginner and in every game you learn a lot ... In the last two series, I learnt to bowl in the right areas and not worry about getting wickets. I am in good rhythm and am sure will hit the right areas."

Sreesanth felt that studying the one-day games on India's last tour of the Caribbean in April 2006 would be very useful as part of the team's World Cup preparations.

"Our last trip to the West Indies is very important. We had a taste of the West Indian wickets. We can look at the videos of the one-day games and it will be useful in our preparations," he said.

He was also positive that the lengthy one-day diet that the team had partaken of after returning from South Africa would stand it in good stead.

"It's a good preparation for the World Cup and am sure we are going to do well in the tournament," he added.

The youngster, only the second player from Kerala to play international cricket and the first to be selected to the World Cup team, taking wickets or not is immaterial as long as his bowling contributes to the team's winning cause.

"I will be very happy even if don't get any wicket. The important thing is it (bowling) should help my team to win the game," he pointed out.