Formidable Challenge Coming Up Against A Very Strong Indian Team: Kyle Coetzer

Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer insisted that his team will try to give their everything against India in the Group 2 match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup to be held in Dubai on Friday. He added that it would be a formidable challenge for his team against India, the 2007 champions.

"We have to focus on what we're really good at and what's going to give us the best chance of winning the game of cricket. We'll do our homework on India, as any team will do, and we know the skills they've got within their camp. When we go into that game, we can't fear the players, but we've got to respect them. We'll go in trying to give it everything we've got," said Coetzer in the pre-match press conference on Thursday.

"It's a formidable challenge coming up against a very strong Indian team full of exciting players. We've got to try to push that to one side, to be honest, and just try and take on the challenges that we face in front of us on the day," added Coetzer.

Coetzer brought up the challenge of batting first being a point of problem for the teams. "I think one of the challenges in this tournament has been setting a total has actually been quite tricky. There's been wickets that have gone down early in a number of the innings. Although you look at the Indian scorecard yesterday, and that clearly wasn't the case. So, there's a big partnership and a big total put on the board."

"We know that setting a total has certainly been a challenge in this tournament. So, I think, as a batting unit, if we can sort of obviously look to play positively but try to keep wickets in hand at the same time, that's the balance you've got to try and find. Often sides have found themselves two, three wickets down coming out of the powerplay, which is less than ideal. So, find that balance, but importantly it's about assessing the pitch, first of all, and trying to make the right choices on that."

Coetzer believes that playing against big opponents like New Zealand, India and Pakistan in Super 12 provides the opportunity for his team to showcase their capabilities to the world. "Everyone in these Super 12 games is going to be a challenge. It doesn't matter which team you come up against, and the opportunity to try to test yourself against some of the best players in the world is a really important time for us, a phase in the cricket Scotland journey, I guess, in terms of how we show and what we do and show what we're capable of."

The 37-year-old signed off by rueing the missed opportunities in their 16-run loss against New Zealand on Wednesday. "We realise we have to play really, really well to give ourselves the best chance. There were opportunities yesterday, in yesterday's game that, if we look back now, moments in that game could have changed the outcome of the final result, but we have to be better and keep raising our bar to be capable and be willing to take those opportunities when they come around."