The ongoing cricket World Cup's long-drawn schedule continues to evoke yawns with New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori being the latest to express his unhappiness with the tournament's itinerary.
"Personally, for me, I get quite bored when matches are not happening on tour," Vettori said when asked about his opinion on the raging debate on the seven-week-long tournament.
Vettori, however, was quick to add that with the preliminary action over, he was not having any trouble keeping himself focused.
"However, now that we have an important one coming up, I have no problem in motivating myself up," he said.
Earlier, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, vice-captain Adam Gilchrist and opener Matthew Hayden had criticised the tournament's schedule. Apart from them, several former cricketers had also lashed out at the long schedule.
Meanwhile, speaking about the semi-final clash against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, Vettori said Shane Bond would hold the key to his team's chances in the match.
"I guess Shane Bond is our trump card. He makes a huge difference (to the outcome of a match). We expect him to get us wickets everytime he turns up at the crease," he said.
The bespectacled spinner, who has claimed 15 wickets for his side from nine games at an average of 16.40, said he sees himself under no pressure in the big clash.
"The thing is even if there are no wickets early in the innings he can come back in the middle overs and give us success. It has always been the same," he said.
In the unlikely scenario when he has to shoulder the entire burden of picking up wickets, Vettori claims that he tends to stick to his methods rather than experiment a great deal.
"My side expects me to keep the runs down and claim wickets and it is a role which I have grown accustomed to over the years. I pretty much follow the same role," he said.
Vettori, who has claimed 202 wickets in 200 ODIs, doesn't see the projected bounce on the Sabina pitch as a deterrent to his mission.
"It's not always that you enjoy bowling on slow and low wickets. Sometimes you look forward to a track with bounce and pace because it allows a batsman that less a time to adjust to his strokes," he explained.
The spinner said he was conscious that not many expect his side to go all the way, including the fans back home in New Zealand.
"Most fans back home still regard as underdogs, as a team which is punching above its weight. We don't necessarily share the same opinion in our dressing room. We see ourselves as a side which has moulded well enough to win against any other side in the world," he said.
