India's stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir said the batsmen need to score heavily against New Zealand in the second One-Day International in Jaipur on Wednesday since the dew-factor would be crucial to the outcome of the match.
"It's always good to score as many runs as possible in the sub-continent. If we are batting first 300 should be a good score but because of the dew factor, the more we score the better it would be for our bowlers," Gambhir said after the practice session on Tuesday.
"It (dew) is a big factor but we also have bowlers who have the experience and who have bowled enough in dew conditions. They will use some chemical and that will make a difference I think but there are certain things like toss and dew which are not in our hands," the skipper said.
Asked about the wicket at the Sawai Man Singh stadium, he said, "There is no point thinking about the team composition and wicket right now as we are going talk to the coach. The wicket looks dry and it might spin a bit if we bowl first."
The Indian team trained for an hour and half, with Yuvraj Singh doing the bulk of batting at nets. Coach Gary Kirsten was seen giving tips to the southpaw and also did some throw-downs with him.
Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan did some batting practice against S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar and the local bowlers. But comeback man Ashish Nehra, surprisingly, did not bowl long enough.
Quizzed on that, Gambhir said, "He is a very experienced campaigner and is bowling in good rhythm at the moment. Sreesanth has also bowled a lot in the Test series and doesn't need to bowl that long. Moreover, in sub-continental wickets, batting is also very important."
The men in blue are high on confidence after their convincing 40-run win over the visitors in the first ODI of the five-match series in Guwahati but Gambhir cautioned the side against complacency.
"This is a young side and no one can afford to be complacent, we still have a long way to go. I don't there is place for anyone who is complacent in this team," the left-hander said.
The Delhi left-hander, who will be leading the national team for only the second time in his career on Wednesday, said he is enjoying the opportunity.
"As far as captaincy is concerned, you need to take care of the entire unit. As I have always said a captain can be as good as his and this has been a very good team effort. I am enjoying the stint," Gambhir said.
The skipper also reiterated that, with so many stars missing from the line-up, this is a 'great opportunity for the youngsters' to prove their mettle.
