Bengaluru, Feb 11: India’s batting star Virender Sehwag and all-rounder Yuvraj Singh expressed confidence in the team’s ability to perform at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at a press conference held in the garden city.

“We are confident [about winning]. I’m looking forward to the World Cup. I’ve been practicing at home at NCA, hopefully I’ll do well. I was lucky to get a break and it has helped my game. This is Gary [Kirsten]’s last World Cup, we’ll try to give him something he can cheer for life. It would be wrong to make a statement that we would win the World Cup, I would say that we will [it] give our best,” said Sehwag ahead of the mega-event.

Speaking about his role in the team he said, “My job is to give a good start. I’ll try to do my best so we can give a big total. We will give [our] 100% in the World Cup. If we give our best, I think the result will be in our favour.”

With the defeat against Bangladesh in the 2007 edition of the CWC still fresh in fans’ minds, the Indian team is keen to avoid past mistakes. “We did well in 2003, we did not do that well in 2007, and we have discussed the positives of those two tournaments. We have a lot of explosive batsmen in our team and any one can win the game for us if they click. We will try to utilise the practice games to the maximum. Bangladesh can upset anyone in the world like they did to us in 2007; we have that at the back of our mind,” Sehwag admitted.

Yuvraj Singh, looking to return to form with the high-profile tournament, also addressed the media. “We’ve got a lot of home support. We have a lot of choices for the slots in the team and that is a good thing. We have to stay clear of distractions and do our best,” he believed.

Addressing concerns raised around him Yuvraj said, “I’ve played 260 matches, if there was any fear factor, I would have been out of the team long back. I’m only thinking of how I can contribute to the team. You are bound to have a lean patch in your career; ups and downs are a part and parcel [of the game]. I’m just looking to change my form for the better for the World Cup,”

Yuvraj, famous for hitting six sixes off England’s Stuart Broad in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in 2007, felt there was more to batting in the World Cup than just hitting big. “Everyone is a sixer king in this team; Yusuf [Pathan] is far ahead of me at the moment as the sixer specialist, and our motive is to win at all costs, not just hitting sixes. If we get a good start from Viru [Virender Sehwag], we have a good run-rate […]. If that doesn’t happen we have to consolidate,” he said, giving the big hitters in the team their due.