Sachin Tendulkar, in an exclusive chat with espnstar.com, talks of India’s chances in the upcoming ICC World Twenty20.

By Vikas Jain

Q: There were widespread speculations that after your batting success in the IPL II you would play in the ICC World T20. Did you ever contemplate the idea?

A: Never. I never thought that I would play the ICC World T20. MS Dhoni and his T20 team have done wonderfully well and I just hope they continue to do so. I have no plans to play T20 for India.

Q: Do you think they can repeat the performance of 2007?

A: Oh, very much so. I think, individually the boys are doing well. Look at Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS. In the bowling department Zaheer was doing well before he got injured and RP Singh has come up by leaps and bounds. Only our opening combination of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag haven't fired.

I think the key would be how soon they can shed off the fatigue factor. They have been playing back to back for a long time now and it would difficult to keep up the tempo.

Q: So you think the IPL is an ideal preparation for the ICC World T20.

A: Yes it is. You are playing the same format and you are playing against the best bowlers and also not in home conditions. So, I think this is a good preparation except that the players should take adequate rest between the IPL and the ICC World T20.

Q: How do you look back at your team's performance in IPL 2?

A: We blew hot and cold. There were times when we could have done better than we did. I think it is a batsman's format and in our case it was the batsmen who let us down.

Q: Harbhajan Singh too complained that batsmen didn't give the bowlers enough runs to defend.

A: Yes, he is right. The bowlers know what they are up against and to counter that they need a decent cushion or runs. Unfortunately, our batsmen didn't give the same the bowlers all the time.

Q: What do you think is the reason for that?

A: It can be attributed to various aspects. For starters it is lack of application, lack of understanding of conditions in South Africa and in some cases lack of experience. It is a combination of these things that has let us down. Having said that, I cannot fault the batsmen for not giving their best because they have been trying too hard to get runs on the board.

Q: Harbhajan also said that he didn't know what his role was in the team. Your comments

A: I won't like to comment on that, it is his personal opinion.