Jolted by the defeat against West Indies, India take on an equally desperate England in a do-or-die Super Eights match here on Sunday, fully aware that a slip-up would all but end their hopes of retaining the T20 World Cup trophy.The unexpected seven-wicket defeat at the hands of West Indies has left Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men in a must-win situation in the remaining two matches, the second of which is against title contenders South Africa on June 16.The road to semi-finals seems tough but the Indians can draw inspiration from their campaign in the 2007 edition where they were in a similar situation.The batting might have been a let-down on Friday but the bowlers have done well all through with the pace trio of Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan making good use of the seaming conditions here.Dhoni's opposite number Paul Collingwood acknowledges the enormity of the task ahead but insists that his team has what it takes to upstage India.
"It is not going to be easy against India. We are in a very tough group but we have the guys to win the next few games and win the tournament," he said.England's over-reliance on Kevin Pietersen has been a concern for a while and Collingwood would be hoping that the likes of Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara also chip in. The bowling is also fragile with pace spearhead Stuart Broad being inconsistent at best.Both the teams are in a desperate situation but Dhoni says being under pressure only motivates his side to do well.
"This brings the best out of us. We'll be under pressure to perform in the next game but that was the story in the last World Cup", he said."After the first (Super Eights) game, every other game was a do-or-die situation for us and we played some of the toughest teams and got through to the finals to win the Cup so it's not like we can't do it again," the Indian skipper said.
"It is not going to be easy against India. We are in a very tough group but we have the guys to win the next few games and win the tournament," he said.England's over-reliance on Kevin Pietersen has been a concern for a while and Collingwood would be hoping that the likes of Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara also chip in. The bowling is also fragile with pace spearhead Stuart Broad being inconsistent at best.Both the teams are in a desperate situation but Dhoni says being under pressure only motivates his side to do well.
"This brings the best out of us. We'll be under pressure to perform in the next game but that was the story in the last World Cup", he said."After the first (Super Eights) game, every other game was a do-or-die situation for us and we played some of the toughest teams and got through to the finals to win the Cup so it's not like we can't do it again," the Indian skipper said.