India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni played down the importance of his side's nine-wicket win over Pakistan.

This was despite admitting it was one of the best India performances he has ever seen.

The 2007 World Twenty20 champions underlined their status as favourites for this summer's competition with a breathtaking batting display which saw them surpass Pakistan's total of 158 for six with three overs to spare.

Rohit Sharma (80) and Gautam Gambhir (52 not out) combined to put on a destructive 140 for the first wicket in front of a sell-out crowd at the Brit Oval.

Pakistan had looked in a reasonable position after Misbah ul Haq (37 not out) and Younus Khan (32) scored freely off the bowling of Praveen Kumar and RP Singh.

Dhoni, who made an unbeaten nine, said he was happy with his side's efforts but denied that it sent a message out to their Twenty20 rivals.

"It was one of the best games we have played and it will be tough to replicate this performance, it was brilliant," the India captain said.

"It was a tough game but overall I'm happy we managed to stop them at 158. We put a lot of pressure on them, restricted their singles and we tried to put as much pressure on them as we could.

"I don't think it underlines our status as favourites though. It's not about being favourites, you have to perform like this throughout the tournament to win.

"You can be thrown out of the tournament easily, especially at the knockout stage.

"We are the side that has done well, but that's all on paper after all that you have to go and do it but we have potential and we will be a tough team to beat."

Dhoni's side suffered a shock loss against New Zealand on Monday and insists his side still have a lot to do to prove they can win the tournament, despite the impressive nature of today's win.

"A victory is a victory. It doesn't matter who you are playing against whether it be Ireland, Bangladesh or Scotland," he added.

"It was important that we won this game after losing the other day so we can go into the final on form."

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said he was not worried about his side's chances of success in the tournament despite recording their second loss in three days.

"I'm not really concerned," he said.

"It's early days and the first match we will come good at the right time.

"I thought 158 wasn't a bad score but I don't think we bowled well today especially the spinners.

"We have no excuses. We have lost two games but we will perform when the real time comes."

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