Calcutta: Ravichandran Ashwin firmly believes that India have the ability to bounce back in the World T20 after losing to New Zealand in the tournament opener.

"If at all there's an international team who can put it behind and go forward, it is us. It's not the first time that this has happened to us. We have done it in the past... We have it in us to come back from behind. That is what we're looking forward to," the senior pro said at a press conference on Friday.

Ashwin stressed on the need to keep their emotions in check in the key clash against Pakistan on Saturday.

"This rivalry is huge, it's hard to say how huge it is... It's probably bigger than the Ashes. As far the Indians and Pakistanis go, I don't think they watch this game as a game of cricket. It's more of a border rivalry... They want to get one up on each other. There's much more rather than this game taking a centre-stage.

"As far as people are concerned, they put their emotions into the game. For the players, it's all about keeping their emotions aside and trying to play the best we can."

Ashwin also preferred not to read much into their defeat against New Zealand. "If we knew we would get out for 79, we would have tried to bowl them out for a lesser score," he quipped.

"Unfortunately we did not... We have been doing a fabulous job. It was a bad day. They bowled brilliantly. Obviously we contributed to their success."

India have been keeping a low profile after the Nagpur loss. The team had its first full session only on Friday and Ashwin said the light schedule was followed to allow the players to relax, and not put themselves under too much pressure.

"I think it was more about trying and relaxing," he said. "It had nothing to do with who we are playing, what game we are playing and all that. We have been on the road for the last three months and we thought it's time now to sit in the hotel room and revisit what we did in the last game. The best thing that we can do is to think for ourselves than sitting together and practising.

"What happens after a game like that is we tend to go into nervous practice, try and overdo everything, and eventually end up going into the match a little more tired than we actually should be. That's the idea behind it.

"It's not the right time to re-look and revisit our strategies. It's about fine-tuning and trusting our abilities. We can't change a whole lot, can we?"