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Having beaten Pakistan A on Friday in the Eurasia Cup one-day series, India A have already set their sights on winning the final next week—most probably, against the same rivals.

The 34-run victory agaisnt Pakistan has given the Indian team enough reasons to start thinking of the home stretch. ‘‘I guess we won’t have any problems seeing off UAE and Ireland, so it’s either Sri Lanka or Pakistan in the final,’’ said skipper Venugopala Rao.

With openers Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan each scoring 50s, and middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma top-scoring with 62, Rao said there’s no reason for concern. ‘‘Everybody’s been contributing and therefore, there’s less reason to worry about our chances,’’ said Rao.

The players, meanwhile, are focussing on making the most of opportunities available. ‘‘As a team, we’ve managed to record a good victory and we hope this performance continues. But on the larger front, everybody wants to do better because these kind of tournaments are perfect stepping stones for the future,’’ said Rao.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Kaarthick, for instance, is keen on getting as much batting practice as possible. ‘‘We were trying different things in the middle, different shots that we usually won’t play in match situations. Runs were coming, so we thought we might as well use the opportunity better,’’ said Kaarthick.

In fact, the players are already eyeing the West Indies tour. While Rao and R P Singh will be a part of the one-day team that leaves on May 12, Kaarthick and Piyush Chawla are looking to impress the selectors before the Test team is named.

In the event, most of the players are looking at this tournament as a ‘‘tri-series’’ with Sri Lanka and Pakistan. ‘‘We are looking forward to doing well in all matches, but we have to wait for an opponent like Pakistan A for a challenge. Yesterday’s match did make us stretch that extra bit,’’ said a player.

Source:India News

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