There is no panic in Indian camp, clarifies Rahul Dravid

Unlike 2011, this Indian team doesn't have that feeling of calm around it. The squad is largely inexperienced and not in the best of form. Is that a concern?
I don't think so. Obviously the fans and people around the team get anxious. But within the group, I don't think there are any such worries about the personnel. There are, perhaps, some concerns about injuries to players. The challenge is to get everyone fit and raring to go. Look, the tournament is a long one. There is enough time to get people fit and into form. I don't think there is anything to be worried about. There's no panic in the camp.

We are just over two weeks away from the start of the tournament. However, the team doesn't have a settled playing XI...
Look, there is a lot of time to experiment. To be honest, we have got time till the quarterfinals to chalk out our plans and arrive at our best possible combination. In a tournament like this, it's nice to mix and match things a little. If there's an injury to a key player at the back-end of the tournament, then you need to have someone ready to take over. I am not too worried with this experimentation (in the tri-series).

In 2003, Sourav Ganguly was the leader; in 2007, it was you; in 2011, it was MS Dhoni. But this time, we have two leaders with Virat Kohli having already taken over the Test side...
As far as I know, Dhoni is the undisputed leader and captain of the ODI team. There is a lot of clarity. I don't think there is any uncertainty about that.

But Kohli could well take over as ODI skipper in the near future...
He could, but it doesn't matter. Right now, it's Dhoni (in charge).

India will play a game every six to seven days. How, then, should the team go about maintaining the balance between work and relaxation?
Rest days are crucial. They have got to make sure they don't practise too much. A couple of extra net sessions are not going to help. And it's important how the support staff manages the team and the workload.

Back in 2003, there were a lot of ugly scenes in the early stages of the tournament. Players' homes were attacked. How did you guys manage to turn things around and eventually make the final?
There was a sense of belief in the team. We knew there was a lot of cricket to go. And in the midst of all that (violence back home), there were lots of messages of support as well. That apart, we were away from home. So, we didn't really know the gravity of the situation. In a way, that helped. We knew it was a long tournament. We knew we had enough time to bounce back. We were quietly confident. Also, we knew every game wasn't a must-win contest.

Do you think the Supreme Court verdict on the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal will affect the team?
I don't think the guys are even thinking about it.