India may have fielded five debutants during the opening T20I against hosts Zimbabwe, but Robin Uthappa said the players were prepared for the game thanks to their experience playing Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indian team trounced a hapless Zimbabwe by 54 runs in the first T20 International cricket match last night to take a 1-0 lead in two-match series.
"We play so much of T20 cricket, all of us must have played 100 games each in IPL, and there the pressure is a lot more. There's more of a crowd, you want to perform, you're playing the best players in the world. You're already basically cooked when you're coming in here, so you're ready for it, he said.
Uthappa insisted the team had good bench strength. "I think we have a pool of 25 players, and all of us deserve to play for the country, it's just that you cannot carry more than 15 in a side. So unfortunately, the rest of us kind of miss out," he stressed. "It's hard to leave those players out and play us. We need to take our chances when they come our way. I would never call us a second string side, because the kind of talent that we have in our pool, I think that we're pretty good for the next 10 to 15 years," he added.
Uthappa, who chipped in with a crucial 39 not out last night to help India post a competitive 178 for five, said he was glad to have made a significant contribution after a dull start to the tour. "I missed out in that first game, a judgment call, and the second one was towards the end, so it could have gone either way as well."
