India captain Rahul Dravid has urged the younger members of his squad not to
be overawed by the World Cup.
Six of India's 15-man squad for the March 13-April 28 World
Cup in the Caribbean will be making their debut in the tournament, including
three of the five-man pace attack.
"It is not something that we have to be fearful about,"
Dravid said on Tuesday at the launch of the team's newly-designed one-day uniforms.
"My message to the boys is to look upon it as a challenge,
a great opportunity, and try and give our best." The pace trio of Irfan
Pathan, Munaf Patel and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, wicketkeepers
Mahendra Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik, and top-order batsman Robin Uthappa
are due to play in their first World Cup. Dravid said the World Cup was "...the
pinnacle of one-day cricket, of your career as a one-day cricketer." India,
the 1983 winners, were runners-up in the last edition in South Africa.
They are placed in Group B with 1996 champions Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
and Bermuda. Back-to-back home one day series victories over West
Indies and Sri Lanka in recent weeks have raised the World Cup hopes of
India's cricket-mad fans.
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