BANGALORE: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni says he is not planning to use an extra specialist bowler against Ireland in Sunday's World Cup match, despite a glut of runs in the previous two games at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Dhoni told reporters Saturday he believed “you should always back your strength, which is batting,” and that India would continue to rely on part-time bowlers in the Group B match. India's batting lineup is considered the best in the World Cup, but its four-man bowling attack has been unimpressive, giving rise to speculation that India might play an extra specialist bowler in the good batting conditions. Giant-killing Ireland has vowed to play aggressive cricket against India as it attempts to add the host to its list of scalps. The non-Test-playing nation provided the shock of the tournament to stun England by three wickets Wednesday and all-rounder John Mooney said they would adopt the same fearless approach in Bangalore. “Our expectations going into the India game will be the same and we will go all out. Every game we play, we play to win,” said Mooney, who took four wickets and scored a crucial 33 not out against England. “As it was against Bangladesh, it will be the same against India too. It didn't happen in the first outing, but we went out with the same attitude against England and the approach will be the same against India.” India, with three points after two matches, including a dramatic tie against England, may be struggling to find the right bowling combination but O'Brien said the hosts had the resources to keep pressure on his team. “A couple of bad matches won't make them a bad bowling attack. I've seen the likes of (paceman) Zaheer Khan and (spinner) Harbhajan Singh and they're very good bowlers,” said O'Brien, who turned 27 Friday. The track has favored batsmen in the past two matches – England vs. India and Ireland vs. England – as each team topped 300 runs. India needs to back up its batting with tight bowling and fielding against Ireland, which showed the depth of its batting against England as lower-order batsmen Alex Cusack and Mooney made crucial contributions. Smith wary of England backlash South African captain Graeme Smith said he expected to face a fired-up England following its humiliation by Ireland. Andrew Strauss's team was victim of one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history when Ireland, inspired by O'Brien's record-breaking 50-ball century, chased down a 328-run winning target in Bangalore Wednesday. It was a victory that threw the race for quarterfinal places from Group B wide open. However, England has a good recent record against the Proteas, winning seven out of their past eight completed ODIs against South Africa. “I think England-South Africa's always a big game,” Smith told reporters at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai Saturday. “It's very competitive and it's a game you look forward to.” As for England's response after the Ireland loss, Smith said: “They are a very proud team and have had some good ups over the last few years. “They have the ability to play really well and as a team we know that. We expect them to bounce back. “The Ireland result will have hit them. It was terrific for the World Cup to watch them (Ireland) get the victory. Tomorrow will be a very different game.” England off-spinner Graeme Swann urged his teammates to hold their nerve. “If we start panicking and thinking we're the disgrace that half the people on Twitter thought we were on Wednesday night, there's no point in us playing,” he said. “But to win three-quarters of the game (against Ireland) and throw it away so catastrophically, that's the sort of thing that can ruin momentum.” Previous campaigns have often seen the Proteas accused of choking but, with the exception of all-rounder Jacques Kallis, few of the current squad have much in the way of a lengthy World Cup history behind them. Significantly, an attack once over-reliant on fast bowling has been boosted by the inclusion of Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir and he could have an important role to play on a Chidambaram pitch set to take turn.
