India not under pressure due to Ganguly's poor form: Dravid

VISAKHAPATNAM, Apr 4 (UNI): Indian cricket vice-captain Rahul Dravid today said the team was not under any pressure due to the continuedpoor run of the team's captain Sourav Ganguly.

Speaking to the media after the practice session before the second one-day tie to be held at ACA-VDCA stadium here tomorrow, Dravid said the team was actually not burdened due to its captain's poor form.

"At times, some people are in fine form and some out of it.

It is a challenge for the team to carry people not in form and still ensure the right results." When asked why he was addressing the media instead of skipper Ganguly, Dravid wittily remarked "he is just practicing.

We thought we just have a change and show you a different face." "We know the caliber of Sourav and believe that he will come out with good performance sooner than later," Dravid said.

He said the mood in the team was high after the convincing win at Kochi.

Though they were disappointed a bit at the Bangalore Test loss, the team was looking forward to the tough one-day series.

The team was showing good improvement as it was seen in the first one day match where the players batted and bowled well and held difficult catches.

"We want to continue the Kochi performance in a consistent manner and get to the winning positions," he added.

On weather conditions, which proved tough in Kochi and looked no better in this port city, he said "playing in India it is always though.

It is important how the teams mange it, cope up with it and recover fast for the next challenge.

It is not tough only for the visiting but for the home team also.

It is a good challenge that we have people who are capable of managing it." He expected Pakistan to bounce back after the first match loss.

"We are aware that they would bounce back hard and we have a lot of respect for the Pakistan team as they are a good one day side.

They are capable of hitting back hard at us.

They would be keen to correct what happened in Kochi.

We are ready for it," he said.

Dravid also dismissed the notion that Indian team was over-reliant on its opener Virender Sehwag.

"Viru is in terrific form but there are some others who have performed as well.

However, one should agree that he is a standout performer," he said.

The vice-captain reiterated that speedster Irfan Pathan was fit and going through all the practice sessions and was also bowling well.

"He may not have got as many wickets as he aspired for.

If a bowler may not take wickets it doesn't always mean he was not fit," he said.

Dravid said the new wicket-keeper M S Dhoni was shaping up well after a good domestic season.

"It's early days for the young man.

He has a good pair of hands, he is confident and will shape up well." Asked what he would do if the skipper asked him to keep wickets in these conditions, he said he was confident Ganguly would not do that.

On the absence of Younis Khan affecting Pakistan's performance, he said the middle order batsman was in great nick in the Test series and his absence was a setback to the team but added that they had quality back-up players to make up for the loss and Shoaib Malik looked capable enough to replace Younis Khan.

The Indian vice-captain also said that the team is concentrating more on its own performance rather than tactis of the Pakistans.

"We are concentrating on our game and our strategies and not really concerned about the strategies of our opponents."