MS Dhoni likens India’s cricketers to a barbecue: there’s a fine line between cooked and over-cooked.

The Indians have been in Australia for three months and haven’t won a game.

Captain Dhoni admits his players are feeling the heavy workload but insist they will rise to the occasion of the World Cup.

“I know that cooked and over-cooked is a very fine line between them – and especially if you do a barbecue you can understand that,” Dhoni told reporters on Saturday.

“It’s not easy to play four Test matches and then followed by a tri-nation series.

“So this break would have definitely helped them to recharge their batteries … only time will tell.”

The break has only been a week. But such is the World Cup’s status in India, Dhoni has made a most personal sacrifice – missed the birth of his first child.

His daughter was born on Friday in Gurgaon but asked if he would have preferred to have been in India in recent days, Dhoni replied: “Not really.

“I have been blessed with a baby daughter. Mum and daughter both are good.

“But as of now I am on national duties so I think everything else can wait. The World Cup is a very important campaign. Everything else can wait.”

Dhoni’s team open their World Cup defence on February 15 with a match considered by many Indians as more important than the final – a fixture in Adelaide against arch-rival Pakistan.

“A lot of people have different views about it,” he said.

“How I personally take it forward is it’s similar to playing against Australia, Sri Lanka or any other Test playing nation.

“Because the moment you start thinking about the traditional rivalry and all of that, you’re just adding pressure to yourself.

“Also what we have successfully done in the last three to four years, we have mellowed down the things that apart from cricket happen on the field … we have minimised the verbal things that often happen between the cricketers.

“And I feel that is really good for the game because you want to play it as a sport, you want to play hard, but you still have to maintain the spirit of the game. That is one thing that both the sides have done really well.”

Dhoni took a similar stance to the often suffocating expectations of Indian fans.

“What is most important is the 15-member squad and the support staff right now are not to think about expectation,” he said.

“That is something that will be crucial … we’re not thinking too much about the fans.”