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Sanjay Manjrekar

The ICC World Cup, 2011 finally exploded into action on the 19th of February with the strong favourites India playing co-hosts Bangladesh. Expect someone like Virendra Sehwag to put matters in a simple perspective, he hit the 1st ball of the tournament for four as casually as he would do in a net session.

With stakes in the game getting higher every year, mostly because of India's stature as a growing economic power, the hype and the build up around World Cups is also heading north.

With such activities, where every investor in the event is under pressure to make the investment good in the 41 days, the game of cricket generally remains hidden somewhere under the banners and commercials of the investors.

Although the players also benefit financially from all this, they are also very relieved when they finally get down to what they really do best. Play Cricket. And that's the feeling you got as India took on Bangladesh in that opener at the Shere Bangla stadium in Mirpur.

Ironically enough, the players find peace on the cricket field right in the middle of 60,000 screaming fans, playing bat and ball. Once they are off the field, the hype machinery takes over once more and the players are back in the uncertain territory.

One of the greatest strengths of this Indian team is its ability to take hype in their stride. The capability of absorbing the pressure and the huge expectations that is constantly around them.

And this capability comes because of the presence of two key players in their side - Virendra Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. By hitting that first ball for four, Sehwag showed that this is still the same game that he started playing as a kid and he was not going to play it any differently because it was the ICC Cricket World Cup. That is exactly what Dhoni does too, bigger the game the more relaxed he will appear as it was at Dhaka for the opening game.

I remember the 2003 World Cup final when India took on the Australians at the Wanderers. It was obvious to everyone who watched that game, that India started playing that match differently from how they had played until then. Since it was the World Cup finals, they elected to field rather than bat first on that pitch.

A much more sensible thing to do in those conditions and also they came out looking overly aggressive against the title defenders. While doing something that was not natural to them, they ended up messing up their skills on the field. After that first hour, they settled down a bit but as it turned out, it was all a bit too late.

This Dhoni-led team will not make that mistake. Expect Dhoni to still do what makes cricketing sense, whatever the occasion. He will play a a big game like he plays any other game and with Sehwag around him thinking in the exact same fashion, that then, becomes the overall attitude of the team.

If you remember the last IPL finals, when Mumbai Indians took on the Chennai Super Kings you could see how Chennai looked the better team, when it mattered, on the big stage. The glaring difference between the two teams that evening was the Mumbai Indians played the finals like the finals while Chennai played it like any other game.

The common thought put forth by most overseas teams in this World Cup when talking about India's chances to win it is that the heavy weight of expectations, especially playing at home may make them vulnerable. Well, those who think like this obviously don't know the core of this Indian team too well.

Yes, the fans will put the pressure of expectations on this team but the fact is that with Dhoni and Sehwag being the thought leaders in this team, this Indian team will not accept it.