Mumbai, May 29: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is confident that his team are capable of defending their World Twenty20 crown in England.

Team India left for England on Friday and will play two practice matches against New Zealand and Pakistan on June 1 and June 3 before the tournament kicks-off on June 5.

Dhoni’s only concern heading at the moment is ace seamer Zaheer Khan’s fitness.

"Zaheer is not one hundred per cent fit, but we hope he will be fit by the time of our first match (on June 6 at Trent Bridge).

"But we have other talented bowlers in the team like Praveen Kumar, R.P. Singh and Ishant Sharma who can fill in his boots," said Dhoni.

"There is no pressure on us since we have a balanced team. Hopefully we will continue the same form that we picked up playing in the Indian Premier League," he added.

Dhoni admitted that the IPL could have led to fatigue in players but said all his players had gained experience of handling pressure situations by playing in the tournament.

"Being an Indian player you have to get used to tight schedules and it’s part of our cricket.

"So far we all are performing quite well and not thinking much about tiredness. As far as the IPL is concerned, I feel that it has benefited our players and they have been exposed to close matches, learning to take the results in their stride," said Dhoni.

"IPL also brought the part-timers into lime light, and that has helped the Indian team. We have more options as Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan came in handy for their respective IPL teams. So we have alternatives," he added.

The skipper said that he is not worried about the opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir’s form and is confident they will fire as always.

"I don’t think Viru and Gauti are out of form.

"They are talented players and know what is their role in the team. They always perform up to expectations," said Dhoni.

India have Bangladesh and Ireland in their group and should not find it too tough to qualify for the next level but the skipper believes they cannot get complacent.

"We can’t take any team lightly. In T20 one never knows which team can turn the table on you. The 50-over World Cup loss to Bangladesh showed us the exit door, so we cannot say they don’t have potential. Whichever teams play up to their potential can win."

The team did not have a preparation camp but the skipper is confident that the practice matches will help them make the most of the conditions.

"Practice matches are crucial, we are playing New Zealand and Pakistan — good teams — and that will test us. We have a couple of days in hand to get used to the conditions.

"The spinners will come in handy there and Harbhajan could be used in first six overs as well," he said.

India won the inaugural event in South Africa on 2007.