Sachin Tendulkar fancies India's chances of World Cup glory, after witnessing the latest in a series of impressive run-chases. Tendulkar, who is on holiday with his family in Himachal Pradesh after missing the one-day series against West Indies with a hamstring strain, told newsmen: "I really think India stand a very good chance of winning next year's World Cup in South Africa, keeping in mind the team's run-chases." The successful pursuit of 324 at Ahmedabad two days ago came just four months after they overhauled England's 325 in the NatWest Trophy final at Lord's and Tendulkar, the leading scorer in one-day matches with 11,544 runs from 300 games, saw it as another step in the right direction. "We only need to peak at the right time in South Africa," said Tendulkar, going on to add that the bouncier South African pitches wouldn't unduly affect the Indian gameplan.

"The track was quite bouncy at Ahmedabad," he said. "I watched the entire (Ahmedabad) match on TV here and didn't miss a single ball." He also expected Indian cricket's youth brigade to come to the fore during the World Cup. "Some of the younger guys are extremely talented and their performances have been brilliant of late," said Tendulkar. One of the youngsters, Virender Sehwag, has supplanted him at the top of the batting order and though it's an open secret that Tendulkar prefers to open, he insisted he would bat anywhere in the order in the team's best interests. With the New Zealand tour less than four weeks away, he said the hamstring was healing well. "I am recovering and should be able to practise within the next 10 days." Tendulkar first toured New Zealand with the Indian team in 1990, getting within 12 runs of becoming Test cricket's youngest centurion. The man who caught him out in that innings? India's coach, John Wright.

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