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Self-belief and consistency will help India to lift WC: Anjum
PTI
Last Updated IST

"I feel India have a fantastic chance and it is not just me but the players themselves believe in it. They themselves feel from within that they can do it," said Anjum, a veteran of six World Cups.

"Moreover, the way Indian team has been consistently performing over the past four years -- from 2007 to 2011 -- has been brilliant. The growth has been exceptionally well. They have got the new talent and have the experienced players also performing for the team."

Refusing to speak about any individual in particular to look out for during the sporting-extravaganza, the 33-year-old cricketer said that it should be the team we must be talking about.

"I will not go for individual players but look at it as a whole team. The team's main goal during the World Cup would be to see that the side wins on a particular day against a particular opponent. And whether it is the No 11 or No 3 getting you the victory runs or wickets, it does not matter.

"At the end of the day you need to get those victories under your belt and go on to the next stage. I would not like to see any stand-out performer during the competition but would like to see more people contributing to the team's success," said Anjum, who has played 12 Tests and 116 ODIs.

Anjum also brushed aside that team India would be under pressure of expectations playing at home.

"In international cricket or for that matter any competitive sport there is always pressure and a player has to live with it. A player must enjoy the pressure.

"As far as Indian cricketers are concerned, they know that they have fans all over the world. They always face that kind of pressure and I think the boys would be able to pull it off with ease," she said.

With most of the top cricketing nations, playing their best game at the moment, Anjum feels that it would be very difficult to predict who will ultimately claim the Cup on April 2.

"Out of the top cricket playing nations, more than half of them have a great chance of winning the World Cup this time around. All of them have an equal chance. Amongst all top countries, anyone can win it," said Anjum, adding that she would like to see India as one of the semifinalists, while it could be anyone else on the other three spots.

She also said that Australia and Pakistan, who were completely off-colour till some time back are also peaking at the right time just ahead of the mega-event.

"The way Australia chased down the target of 334 in yesterday's match against England, it is incredible. When you come out of such an high intensity match, it generally binds you as a team and you are a confident unit," said Anjum, adding, "In any case you cannot write off Australia."

Australia registered their biggest ever successful run chase to beat England by two wickets in a thrilling one-day international at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday.

Extending her best wishes to the Indian team, Anjum said that in a World Cup, neither past performances nor rankings matter and it would all come down to a team's performance on a given day.

"The ranking and all doesn't matter as such in World Cup because whether you are No 1 or No 10, you always want to believe that you have a chance because it is just one match against one team on a particular day," she said.

"As a player you feel you can do it and I hope each and every Indian player feel that way and win us the Cup after 28 long years."

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(Published 03 February 2011, 17:58 IST)