Gambhir missed the group match against South Africa because of a groin injury but the left-hander said he has recover from it and was raring to go.

“I am fit and feeling strong. I am looking forward to the big games. These are really important matches and I am looking forward to play a big role in that,” said Gambhir, after a long hit at the nets at the Three Ws Oval here.

“You have seen how one player can change the course of the game when Suresh Raina scored a hundred against South Africa. I want to contribute,” said the Delhi player.

Gambhir has been one of India’s most prolific batsmen in recent years and the left-hander said he wanted an encore of his performance in the 2007 World Twenty20 which India won.

“It is always good that you have been scoring in the last one year. The team wants you to score more and more. This is one tournament where you want to really step up and show good form.

“I am enjoying the challenge and hopefully if I get the same kind of form that I had in 2007 it would be great,” he said.

Even though India won the 2007 title, they could not reach the semifinals last year but Gambhir felt India were better prepared for the Super Eights this time round.

“The difference between the last event and this year is that we played Bangladesh and Ireland in England. But this time round we played South Africa who are one of the best sides in the world. So we can take that confidence into the Super Eights,” he said.

Gambhir had no issue if the Kensington Oval deck generated pace and bounce on Friday.

“We haven’t played on this wicket so we don’t know how it will play. Obviously, we have heard from people that it has a got a lot more bounce in it than at St Lucia.

“You cannot go into the match with set ideas just because the wicket is sluggish or fast. Sometimes it works the other way when a guy goes and turns the match around in six overs,” said Gambhir.

The left-hander said Indian would play to their strengths rather than worry about what the opposition would do.

“We cannot plan for what the opposition have strategised for us. We will go with our own strengths. We have a good quality set of bowlers who can dismiss the opposition. We also have a set of spinners who are really good. I personally think that a quality spinner is an asset and the quality will show irrespective of what the surface is,” he said.

“Our bowling unit has performed well. Zaheer (Khan), Harbhajan (Singh) and Ashish (Nehra) have done really well. They look to dismiss the opposition. That is the only way of how you can restrict the teams. By getting wickets it gives us the momentum and sets up the match for us,” he said.

Gambhir felt there was not much difference between the Super Eight teams.

“There is not much difference between the three sides as in T20 every team looks to attack. Everybody would like to win the title. So the competition is going to be stiff hereon,” he added.

He said Australia would be aching to win the this title after having failed in two ventures earlier.

“Australia haven’t done well in the T20s. The first time they lost in the semis and the next year they did not qualify. So you can expect Australia to come back really strong. They have got some quality players in their side who can change the course of the match,” said Gambhir.

ICC World Twenty20

India go into the ICC World Twenty20 determined to avoid a second big failure in three years in the Caribbean with a solid all-round performance.

India, who suffered a humiliating first-round exit in the 50-over World Cup in the West Indies in 2007, need to show their depth in batting, especially after losing hard-hitting opener Virender Sehwag to a shoulder injury.

With record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar not part of the T20 side since 2007, the onus will be on skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh to put up a formidable batting show.

India were in a similar situation ahead of the last year’s tournament in England, but the result was a big disappointment for their fans as they failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

They travelled to England just a few days after the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa, with coach Gary Kirsten citing “fatigue” as one of the reasons for the team’s failure.

The limbs will be tired this time also as Indians played virtually non-stop cricket for more than a month in the recent IPL which ended five days before the Cup, but Dhoni downplayed the fatigue factor.

“We will be going into the Twenty20 fully prepared, though we will have very little time to refresh ourselves,” said Dhoni.

“As professionals, we are always committed to giving our best. There can be no excuse for failure.”

Former champions India are expected to clear the first hurdle having been drawn in the same group as first-timers Afghanistan and South Africa, with the top two advancing to the Super Eights.

Batting will be India’s main strength, with Dhoni, Raina, Gambhir, Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan all capable of dominating any attack with their exciting stroke-play.

The conditions in the Caribbean are likely to favour India more than those in England where their batsman often struggled, especially against short-pitched bowling, on seaming tracks.

India have named two newcomers, batsman Murali Vijay as Sehwag’s replacement and paceman Vinay Kumar, after the players’ impressive performances in the IPL.

The growing success of the IPL may suggest that India are keen only on the slam-bang version, but Dhoni’s men have played just two T20 internationals since the World meet in June last year.

They lost the first match against World Twenty20 runners-up Sri Lanka by 29 runs before beating the same rivals by six wickets in the second match in December.

Twenty20 cricket may be all about batsmen trying to belt the ball out of the park, but there is still a room for quality bowlers to achieve success as was shown in the recent IPL.

India have effective seamers in Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra, who are capable of testing batsmen with variations. Spinners Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja also can curb stroke-makers with a tidy line and length.

India have so far won 10 of their 20 Twenty20 Internationals.

Chasing 159, Rohit and Gautam Gambhir (52 not out) raised 140 runs in just 16 overs for the opening stand to slam the door on Pakistan and India cruised to 159 for one in 17 overs to complete a facile win.

Rohit’s was a sublime 53-ball knock, bejewelled with nine fours and two sixes. In contrast, Gambhir played the second fiddle to perfection and was unbeaten after a 47-ball knock that included five hits to the fence.

Earlier, Pakistan got off to a flier before suffering a mid-innings slump even though they eventually reached a competitive 158 for six, thanks to cameos from Ahmed Shehzad (25), Younis Khan (32), Misbah-ul Haq (37 not out) and Yasir Arafat (25 not out).
But with Gambhir getting his mojo back and Rohit continuing his purple patch, India’s chase was off to a rollicking start and they never relaxed their grip.

Gambhir flicked the first ball from Umar Gul for a delectable four and ended the over in similar fashion.

Rohit, meanwhile, was not ready to be outshone.

Accordingly, Gul was hit over mid-on for a four, Yasir Arafat was dispatched in the stands for the first six of the match before copping two fours in his next over.

Shahid Afridi also found himself at the receiving end of Rohit’s wrath when the batsman smote him over midwicket for a huge six.

Though Rohit eventually fell in the 16th over, by then it was just a matter of formality for India.

Earlier, Pakistan got off to a flier but India’s disciplined bowling unit staged a remarkable comeback to restrict them to 158 for six.

Despite losing an early wicket, Pakistan cruised to 45 in just over four overs before losing three wickets without a single run added to the score.

After winning toss, Pakistan captain Younis Khan sent out teen twins Shahzaib Hasan (0) and Ahmed Shehzad (25) to open the innings but Hasan was back in the hut soon after Praveen Kumar’s fifth legitimate delivery pegged back his off-stump.

Shehzad’s too could have been a brief stay but Harbhajan Singh grassed a sitter at mid-wicket off RP Singh when the batsman was on five and India were made to pay for the clanger.

Shehzad shed all inhibitions and went after the Indian bowlers and suddenly it was raining boundaries at The Oval.

RP Singh copped two in the same over and Praveen didn’t escape unscathed either as Shehzad pulled and drove with elan.

Shehzad’s aggression proved contagious as Kamran Akmal (19) too started freeing his arms to good effect.

It was probably too good to last and Pakistan lost three wickets over five balls with Suresh Raina in the thick of action.

An airborne Raina first did a Jonty Rhodes to swoop on a ball and hit the stumps to remove Akmal and then placed himself under Shehzad’s miscued skier in the same Ishant Sharma over.

Shahid Afridi’s was a blink-and-miss stay as the swashbuckling right-hander bottom edged Irfan Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni took a diving catch to remove him for a golden duck.

Shoaib Malik (14) started well before Pragyan Ojha snared the former captain in his first over and Pakistan were without their top half when the score reached 63.

Younis (32) and Misbah (37 not out) raised 50 runs in 7.3 overs but boundaries had dried up by then. Harbhajan got rid off Younis but Misbah and Arafat (25 not out) threw their bat at everything to push the score past the 150-mark.