Sreesanth upbeat about India's chances

Port of Spain (Trinidad), Mar 15 (UNI) Fast bowler S Sreesanth today appeared upbeat about India's chances in the World Cup saying, ''We have a very competitive team and we are hopeful of very good results.'' ''As individuals, we have goals. As a team we have goals. I am working towards both of them and want to play a big role for India in this World Cup,'' he said after the team's nets at the National Cricket Centre in Couva, some 25 miles outside this capital city.

''The team's motto for this World Cup is 'Let's Win Together' and I will work as much as I can both on and off the field towards that.

My place in the Test team is secure and I now want to do the same in the ODI squad.

''I like it this way, this struggle. I like to struggle and get something, achieve something and I would rather do that than get it easily. I'm sure I will get the opportunity,'' the 24-year-old said.

He candidly admitted that he was lucky to play all the matches here last year learn from them.

''One big lesson that I learnt was to be patient, wait for the wickets to come rather than go looking for them. Pace alone is not enough and it's not enough at this level to just run in fast.

''I have learnt to bowl with patience and intelligence and the wickets will come. Here, the seniors have been a great help, especially interacting with Sachin bhai and Dada (Sourav Ganguly) who once told me that given my pace, he would have got a lot more wickets than I have managed.

''All these guys, including Zack (Zaheer Khan) have been talking to us, sharing their thoughts and experiences though he (Zaheer) and I have never talked about the 2003 World Cup final.'' That game has particular place in Sreesanth's scheme of things .

''We (Kerala) were playing the Ranji Trophy Plate final against Karnataka at the KSCA in Bangalore and they had put up a giant screen for us to watch. Everyone was screaming and it was sad that we lost that match. Kerala then lost to Karnataka and I'm not sure about what I felt worse about.'' It has been a steep learning for the enthusiastic Kochi-born paceman. He struggled during India's tour here last year, going for big runs in the one-day series that India lost by a 1-4 margin.

''I have learnt a lot and am still learning. Last year's tour has in that sense helped a lot.'' UNI