MS Dhoni praises India 'character' after World Twenty20 win over Pakistan

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was full of praise for his side after they got their ICC World Twenty20 campaign back on track by beating Pakistan on Saturday.

The hosts lost their opening match to New Zealand on Tuesday, but returned to winning ways as they cruised to a six-wicket victory over Pakistan in Kolkata.

Dhoni's side held their nerve in front of a packed crowd as they reached their target of 119 with 13 balls remaining.

India won the inaugural World T20 in 2007 and the 2011 ODI World Cup after stuttering starts to their campaign and Dhoni was not surprised to see them bounce back once again after losing to the Kiwis.

"If you see we have been in this position many times. We know how to turn it around," Dhoni said.

"To have a very bad game or a very bad series and to come back strong, it's the kind of character the boys have.

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"And I feel it's very important to back them and have confidence in them that they will bounce back and will come back strong.

"I still feel there is still scope for improvement and in the coming two games that will be our priority."

Pakistan, who started the tournament with an emphatic victory over Bangladesh, failed to shrug off their jinx against India and have now lost all their 11 matches to their arch rivals in six 50-over World Cup meetings and five T20 clashes.

However, batsman Shoaib Malik, who scored 26 as Pakistan made 118-5 after being asked to bat first in a match reduced to 18 overs a side due to rain, attempted to play down that poor record.

"We would have fared badly against many other teams as well in the World Cup, but the India bit gets highlighted more," he said.

"It was a tough pitch to bat on but we could have put on a better target than this. Our total wasn't enough to defend against such a great batting line-up."

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