KARACHI, June 23: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday played down the talk that his team were clear favourite for the Asia Cup title and said fellow contenders Pakistan and Sri Lanka had equal chances of winning the tournament.

Addressing a pre-tournament media conference after his team’s arrival in the city on Sunday night, the wicketkeeper-batsman said Asia Cup was as important an event as any in the cricketing circuit.

“No doubt it [Asia Cup] is a prestigious tournament. We don’t regard ourselves as the favourites and we are not the best team because we have to go out and perform according to our potential. After all, it is a tough competition and there are no easy games,” the articulate skipper said. “Every game is a new game and we have to start afresh every time. Therefore, it’s crucial to keep the momentum going throughout the tournament.”

He stressed that not only the Indians but other teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka would have to be at their best to win the Asia Cup. “I think there is no significant difference between these three sides. On their day, any of them could win the tournament and I am not ruling out Bangladesh either. But I as said earlier, the team that plays to its potential would get there in the end,” remarked Dhoni. “Definitely when you play you to tend to lose some and win some and that’s how we fared in the Dhaka tri-series. But now every team will have to start from scratch.”

Dhoni admitted he wasn’t ruffled by the loss of key players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Shantakumaran Sreesanth for this tournament.

“Well, I would not say we will not miss them. But the rest of the guys are up to the mark. They are doing well and it’s not really a bothering factor for us. To be honest, we are quite happy with the combination that we have here,” the Indian skipper said in a confident tone.

Dhoni said all-rounder Irfan Pathan would be rested from India’s first game match against Hong Kong on Wednesday so that he recovers from a knee injury.

“Yeah, Irfan is troubled by a knee problem and we are not going to take undue risk by asking him to play on Wednesday. We are confident that Irfan will be fit for the Pakistan match on Thursday,” he added.

Dhoni reiterated that he would bat higher in the order but that would depend on how his team is placed in a certain game.

“It would entirely depend on what kind of start we get. And if the situation requires that I bat higher than from my normal position, I’ll definitely do that. More than anything else, we bat according to the number of overs,” he pointed out.