World Cup Cocktail

Michael Clarke said he'd be happy to play under Steven Smith if it was decided the younger man should retain the captaincy even when he returned.

"Most definitely I would," Clarke said in Brisbane.

"I feel for Smithy because I sat in his shoes when a lot of the media were calling for (former captain) Ricky Ponting (to go)."

"It's certainly not personal between Smithy and I. We've been friends for a long time and we'll continue to be."

"The people that sit above both him and I will make their decisions. Whatever they feel are the best 11 players and whoever they feel is the best captain, they'll pick that."

'Morgan is dreaming’

Australia's Mitchell Johnson has hit back at Eoin Morgan's claim that England will not be under pressure in their opening World Cup match in Melbourne, saying the captain is “dreaming” if he thinks otherwise.

Morgan, speaking after Australia's to a 112-run victory in the Tri-Series final in Perth, played down the 14 February meeting with the tournament co-hosts.

“I think the pressure builds on Australia. They're the home side at a World Cup playing against a dangerous side. We're going out all guns blazing. There's no pressure from our point of view,” said Morgan.

Those words left Johnson unimpressed.

“I think every team is under pressure, it is a World Cup. I think they are dreaming if they think they are not under pressure. Every team is going to be under pressure, you've got to win pretty much every game. That's how I see it,” the fast bowler said.

 “Our plan is to win every game. There will probably be a little more pressure on us being a home World Cup but we are prepared for that.”

'Let Kohli blow kisses'

Former India captain Kapil Dev said that he is fine with Virat Kohli's antics as long as he is performing on the field.

"If Virat Kohli scores a century and then blows a flying kiss towards his girlfriend, I have no problems. Rather I have problem if a player scores zero and is blowing a flying kiss. We played cricket in a different era and now it's a different era. We have to accept that," Kapil said.

"We can't just sit back and think that cricket is no longer a gentleman's game. Times have changed. The generation I played in was different. We grew up with Test cricket. But now you have sledging, abuse and T20 is an accepted format."

On India's chances in the World Cup, Kapil said India would reach the semifinals and then it was 25 percent and also explained his reasoning.

Ishant's WC in doubt?

Mohit Sharma is likely to replace Ishant Sharma in the Indian squad for the 2015 World Cup. According to a report in the Mumbai Mirror, the BCCI has given the team management the deadline of February 05 to finalise the squad and weed out the injured players. The report stated that Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami are all having fitness issues but Ishant's case is more serious.

Ishant has been suffering from a knee injury since the end of the Melbourne Test in December. He missed the Sydney Test and was not picked for the first two ODIs in the tri-series. He resumed training and was picked in the Australia Day clash in Sydney but the match was rained out and Ishant was unable to bowl. He was dropped for the Perth match against England and the doubts over his fitness have only grown. The report also stated that Mohit has been told not to leave Australia. -Compiled