India's coach John Wright is hoping his top order batsmen will shed their lethargic form of the Asia Cup and hit the cruise button straight away in the triangular one-day tournament starting on Saturday.
Wright emphasized the importance of the star-studded Indian line-up utilizing the first 15 overs to stay a step ahead of Australia and Pakistan, the other teams in the tournament.
"The first 15 overs are critical. We didn't play the first 15 overs as well as we could have [in the Asia Cup]," remarked Wright as he took the side to Utrecht for an unscheduled practice session on Thursday morning.
India's practice session was brought forward in the neighbouring city of Amsterdam as the Pakistanis cooled their heels, frustrated by the non-arrival of their kit.
But for Wright and his wards there was no time to lose as they look to maximize the teams potential in the coming tournament.
"As I said, the first 15 overs are critical. But we have guys like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, and generally when they explode there is no problem with the scoring rate," said Wright.
The Indians were never able to get a good start in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka last month as Sehwag failed in all but one game while Tendulkar, despite his three half centuries, wasn't quite at his best. To compound problems, VVS Laxman was down with a knee bruise in all but two games.
Wright is counting on his batsmen to provide a good start and then build partnerships between them so that the final assault is carried out in the last 10 overs.
"For any side to have wickets in the final 10 overs is important. If anything, we now have more depth in the batting with [Ajit] Agarkar back and [Irfan] Pathan showing promise," he said.
The New Zealander conceded that though flexibility is important in one-day cricket, it doesn't imply that the team needs to shuffle its batting order to maximize its potential.
"There are certain positions we would like to keep pretty stable. Especially when it comes to partnerships. Besides, we have got players who can be flexible according to situation," commented Wright.
The Indians could have a wicket to their liking in Amstelveen, where the authorities are trying to produce a flat strip, which means high-scoring totals could be on the cards.
"The Dutch authorities are trying to put a lot of effort to produce a flat wicket," Wright said. "I coached the Kent side here five years ago. We played Benson and Hedges matches. They are pretty good wickets.
"I understand it would get better. They are trying to make it as fair as possible. With three world class sides, what you need is a good one-day wicket."
He acknowledged that with the conditions being what they are, and awfully short front boundaries, spinners could have a difficult time proving their worth in a format of a game, which anyway is heavily loaded in favour of batsmen.
"The outfield looks good. We know it is a small ground. There would be a lot of ground-clearing shots but then it also depends on the wicket conditions.
"I would say the conditions here would lean more towards pace rather than spin."
The venue doesn't have the feel normally associated with the cricket circuit and there is a spirit of festivity in the air. But Wright is expecting a very, very intense performance from his boys.
"The festivity wouldn't be for us because we had a disappointing Asia Cup. These matches are very important for us and the boys are aware of it.
"There is a lot of support coming from different parts of the world. I can't see any drop in intensity - it is an India-Pakistan match and nobody is going to take it lightly."
