Camaraderie among the members of the Indian squad will help in the Olympiad title defence, Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa said while expressing confidence of a strong show.

The 20-year-old said the team was strong and had the experience to handle the pressure of being the defending champion. He said the core of the team from the winning campaign in 2024 was same time except for Nihal Sarin replacing P. Harikrishna.

“I think we are all very good friends. Being friends helps a lot when you are playing a team event like the Olympiad,” he told The Hindu on the sidelines of an event at D.G. Vaishnav College here.

Asked if there would be huge pressure on India as the title-holder, Praggnanandhaa said, “there will always be pressure when you are representing the country. You want to do well. It’s not about pressure from outside. It’s more of an expectation from yourself that you will do well. We have experienced all this and are ready.”

About World champion D. Gukesh’s below-par performances since winning the sport’s biggest prize, Praggnanandhaa said, “he has won gold (board prize) and been part of a victorious Olympiad campaign. I don’t know who else has done these things.”

“He has shown that he belongs at the top. Sometimes everyone has these bad phases. I think this is just one of those,” he added.

He expected the home team Uzbekistan with Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Gukesh’s challenger Javokhir Sindarov in the line-up, to be among the teams to beat in the Olympiad.