Aust or Pakistan, Dhoni doesn’t care

Captain MS Dhoni insists he couldn’t care less about who India will face in Thursday’s World Cup semi-final at the SCG.

The defending champions continued their impressive form in the tournament with a 109-run victory over Bangladesh in the round of eight, making it seven wins on the trot.

Dhoni’s men next confront Australia or Pakistan – a blockbuster match either way.

Bitter rivals Pakistan have never defeated India in a World Cup match, including the sides’ tournament opener at Adelaide Oval last month.

India started their tour of Australia almost four months ago and are yet to register a win over Michael Clarke’s men.

The co-hosts would also be baying for revenge given a quarter-final loss to India in 2011 ended their hopes of winning a fourth straight World Cup.

Dhoni was unwilling to offer an opinion on who he thought would win Friday’s quarter-final.

“It doesn’t matter because when it comes to the World Cup you have to play against each and every team,” Dhoni said.

“And you have to win against each and every team.

“So it doesn’t really matter who wins.”

Dhoni then scoffed at a reporter who asked a question regarding the prospect of facing Australia.

“Are you putting money on that with bet.com or something?” he quipped.

Bangladesh’s vanquished captain Mashrafe Mortaza was also unwilling to speculate about what might happen in Sydney next week.

“Definitely it will be a very good match, whoever plays against India,” Mashrafe said.

“The way India is playing now, it will be a challenge for the other teams.”

Dhoni commended his teammates for a polished performance, reserving special praise for Suresh Raina’s strokes, Rohit Sharma’s composed century plus a clinical attack that claimed 10 wickets for the seventh time in a row.

“We have got quite a few teams out. It has never really happened with the Indian cricket team, so it’s definitely a big positive,” he said.

“If they can keep hitting that one area, it will be good because that’s something where we have been lacking.”

However, the wicketkeeper vowed India would not get carried away with their impressive form.

“When you’ve won the game, you tend to brush everything under the carpet,” he said.

“What’s important is to still keep improving.

“Whatever we have not done right in this game, we would like to do it properly in the next one.”

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