Bresnan a concern for World Cup - Flower

Andy Flower, the England team director, has revealed that Tim Bresnan is the most serious of their lengthy injury list ahead of the World Cup. Bresnan suffered a calf injury during the second one-day international at Hobart and is one of five players to have flown home early from Australia with the most recent being Paul Collingwood. 

England's casualty list also includes Graeme Swann (back), Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Chris Tremlett (side). The latter isn't part of the World Cup 15 but is a possible replacement should anyone not recover. "Probably it's Bresnan considering the sight of his injury, just above his Achilles tendon in his lower calf," Flower said when pushed on who was struggling the most. "But he's not a man who has suffered injuries, well not many injuries, in the past and hopefully he will recover very quickly and be ready somewhere near the start." 

England have been left battling to have a full-strength squad to take to the subcontinent later this month and it could be especially tight for the two warm-up matches against Canada and Pakistan. Collingwood, who suffered a back spasm at Sydney and flew out of Perth on Thursday evening, has been given paternity leave during the warm-up period along with Swann leaving the prospect of England not having 11 fit players when they arrive in Bangladesh. 

"Of course the timing of them getting back to full fitness is important for the start of the World Cup," Flower said. "We can't be absolutely certain of that at this stage but we are monitoring them on a daily basis."

Despite the rush to get Collingwood back to the UK with just four days of this tour remaining Flower wasn't overly concerned about the allrounder. He was unable to bowl at Sydney as England failed to defend a record total of 333 having hurt his back playing the final shot of the innings. Collingwood's mixture of medium-pacers and cutters are set to be important to England's World Cup although he continues to struggle for runs.

"He should be alright. He's been sent home to get looked after back in England by the specialists, his lower back needs a scan and the right sort of treatment," Flower said. "The sooner he got home the better, he wouldn't have been available for this last game anyway. He's going to a very important member of our World Cup side so we needed to get him off home early." 

With the bowling ranks currently so depleted England could reach the point next week where they have to replace players in their final 15. Having stayed fit during the series, and taken 6 for 45 at Brisbane, Chris Woakes has made a strong case to be a first reserve as he also provides some useful lower-order batting.

Steven Finn has been given his one-day international debut during this series having not originally been part of the squad until James Anderson was rested for the first three matches. He was England's most impressive seamer in Sydney, taking 2 for 51 from his 10 overs in a high-scoring encounter. Liam Plunkett, the Durham pace bowler, has also been called into the squad for the final match in Perth and arrived on Wednesday after a 40-hour journey from the Caribbean where he was part of the England Lions squad.

Dhoni unfazed by World Cup pressure

M.S. Dhoni, the India captain, has said performing under pressure has become India's strength and that will hold them in good stead for the World Cup where he admitted expectations will be high.

"What we have done in the last three years is that we have changed the meaning of pressure to responsibility and we take it as an added responsibility," Dhoni said. "Cricket is the biggest sport in India and it is widely followed. Everybody wants us to do well and we take that in a positive way. We just stick to the basics, prepare well for the game and at the end of the day we know we have got the potential to do well on the field." 

One of the questions facing the India team, who play their first match on February 19 against Bangladesh, is how they will deal with the pressure of being tournament hosts along with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India have failed to get past the semi-final stage in previous World Cups played on home soil. But Dhoni said he was concentrating just on the preparation. "I am ready to prepare well for the World Cup and that is what is in my hands right now." 

Dhoni dodged the question of whether India were favourites for the tournament by saying: "For a change we won't be considered underdogs." He stuck to what has become almost a mantra for him in his time as captain in saying "processes" would take precedence over results. "I never predict much when it comes to cricket. We believe in each of us, and the support staff members are also there to help us. We believe in doing the process, so I have no prediction about the World Cup and we will just give it our best shot." 

A day after England batsman Kevin Pietersen termed his side's hectic schedule leading up to the World Cup as 'ridiculous', Dhoni admitted arriving at a balanced schedule was difficult. "The biggest thing in cricket is that we do criticise a lot. When we lose a game, even I have said in the past that we play too much cricket. To get the perfect balance is a very difficult task because there is a very thin line and it is not like technology where we can be close to perfection. It is an issue that will always be raised that either it will be a cramped schedule or there is too long a gap between games." 

India have selected seven batsmen, four seamers, three spinners and just one wicketkeeper in their 15-man squad for the World Cup, and Dhoni said there were always players bound to miss out when you have to pick just 15 players. "We have tried to keep the best squad but you can't accommodate everyone. You can only select 15 players, so you may miss some players who are key in some areas like a left-arm spinner or maybe a legspinner. It will always be a point of discussion, but what is important is that the 15 players who are selected right now make an impact on the World Cup." 

Dhoni said he wasn't thinking about the disappointing loss to Bangladesh - who are India's first opponents in the 2011 tournament - in the 2007 World Cup. "I am certainly thinking about the match [against Bangladesh] positively. We may have lost in 2007, but there are plenty of positives that we can look for like the 2003 World Cup and the entire tournament we played then. 

"As far as the gaps between the games are concerned, we all know that it is there so what is best for us is to make a good plan to utilise it in the best possible manner. Of course, we play throughout the year, which means that in between these tense games the players will get time to relax themselves and at the same time if there are some niggles you can get over it. 

"It is the biggest tournament and it is the biggest thing that happens in cricket, so it is very important that you play with the best XI that your team has. You don't want to miss many players because of injuries."