Team India played football ahead of the quarter-final against Bangladesh. Ahead of Thursday’s quarter-final, Team India arrived at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and surprised those who thought they would take to the nets with bat and ball, and the star-studded line-up including captain Dhoni took to the field with the ball.
The media and many fans were waiting to watch the team practice. Photographers and others came to the corner of the field to take pictures of the net practice, but the players moved to the middle of the field with the football.
The team management says that India is not interested in taking the dark horses Bangladesh lightly. Football was not played with the understanding that the opponents were weak. This was done to ease the pressure of the players. Former player Javagal Srinath believes that playing football has eased the mental tension of the players. Srinath said that the memories of Bangladesh defeating India in the 2007 World Cup do not haunt the players and later they forgot all that after becoming World Cup champions.
The team of that day is not what it is today. Srinath feels that India is one of the two teams to have won all the matches in this tournament and that they have good quality in bowling and batting and that they are not dependent on any one player and it has been good for the team.
