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Ahmedabad, Oct 25: Indian skipper Rahul Dravid today sought to rattle the in-form West Indies ahead of the crucial Champions Trophy tie by declaring that his team had chalked out a plan to dismiss their key players cheaply.
Regrouping after a Diwali break during which they celebrated the festival with their families, Dravid said the players were focussed and raring to go into the crunch game.
"In the past we have seen that they (West Indies) rely heavily on two-three players. If we can get these key players out, as we had done in Malaysia, then they will come under pressure. And that's what we aim to do," he told a pre-match press conference.
David said his team was confident of winning the game and progressing to the semi-final stage.
"We are happy with the way we practised for the last four days. We are now totally focussed on the game".
On the rival team's assertion that it would be at an advantage following the recent good showing over India, the 33-year-old Indian captain said, "We are not concerned at what happened in the past. That's irrelevant. It's a new game. We only have to focus on playing good cricket." However, he praised the performance of the Caribbeans over the past few months.
"They are going through a period of very good cricket. The key players are in form. They have struck a good balance. But we are also not far behind".
On a positive note, Dravid felt that his team had now left the worst behind it. "We were in tough times only months back. We struggled in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe. And then in October, we upturned the number two team in the world. Hopefully now we will bounce back".
Dravid said that his team was working on some of the weak aspects in their game like the inability to build enough good partnerships.
Dravid advised the youngsters in the team to enjoy the game.
"They have the opportunity to take part in a tournament close to the World Cup. And they should relax and enjoy".
But he also said that the rookies should learn how to gel with varying conditions. "Only those who can tune themselves to different conditions survive". (Agencies)
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