The captain of Indian cricket team Virat Kohli and the head coach Ravi Shastri addressed a press conference just before leaving for the World Cup 2019. Although the answer of No. 4 batsman is still unknown, the duo backed the team and talked about their mission.
The Skipper Says
India-Pakistan match was in doubt post the Pulwama attack. But once ICC has cleared all the air fans are looking up to the most exciting clash of the tournament. But Kohli doesn’t want to give extra importance to any single team. He said, “If we keep focusing individually on every team, we won’t be able to focus on our campaign. Preparations won’t be any different, we have to just focus on our quality and intensity irrespective of the opposition. That’s what we will be looking to do here.”
The hectic schedule
He talked about the hectic schedule as well. : “It’s going to be challenging, but the good thing is that there’s a decent gap between every game. Players won’t be burnt out. We’ll always have time to regroup. We have four tough games straight up and that will set the tone for us. We don’t have any room for complacency, and that’s why it’s the World Cup. You have to arrive on the day, match-ready. This is the challenge.”
He added that this would be the most challenging World Cup considering the format. “Certainly the most challenging World Cup considering the format of the tournament, also if you look at all the teams, they are really close. Even someone like Afghanistan have made so much progress since 2015. Every game we will have to play to the best of our potential, it’s a different challenge which everyone will have to adapt to,” said Kohli.
Kohli on Kuldeep and Jadhav
The skipper hopes that Kuldeep and Jadhav’s poor IPL 2019 form will not affect the mega tournament. He opined, “Someone like Kuldeep has had such success, he needs to see the other side also. Glad it happened during the IPL than the World Cup. He is one of the pillars along with Chahal for our bowling. Same for Jadhav, he wasn’t playing in the best of pitches and T20 is such a format. I am sure they are in a good headspace, in World Cup it’s more about handling the pressure and ensuring we stay focused,” said Kohli. Kuldeep’s injury was an issue for the team. Since there is doubt over his fitness anymore, Virat likes to show full faith on him.
The Head Coach Ravi Shastri Says
Regarding England’s field condition Shastri said, “Our mantra is to be flexible in the last 10 overs, pitches are going to be flat but overcast conditions will also have to be taken into consideration. It will also depend from venue to venue, so you have to be prepared for that and be flexible.”
For MS Dhoni, this can be the last World Cup. Everyone in the team always acknowledges how useful his presence is for the team. Shastri shared about Dhoni’s relation with Kohli and seemed glad with his form. “His relation with Kohli is great, he has shown that he is still the best in this format of the game. What was good to see in the IPL was the way he was moving and hitting the ball,” Shastri said.
Written by Shreyasi Dravid
Also Read: Who will win the ODI World Cup 2019? Here are the top 5 contenders
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