Buzz about Sidhu Moosewala’s father contesting from Bathinda as Independent candidate
Mumbai, May 25
India’s best chances of defending the Champions Trophy title next month lie in not burdening themselves with the prospect and staying calm and carefree, skipper Virat Kohli said on Wednesday. Kohli was part of the MS Dhoni-led Indian team that trumped hosts England in the 2013 final at Edgbaston.
Kohli said he could not remember any creased foreheads in that victorious dressing room. A similar carefree attitude has been the hallmark of the Indian team that’s currently the No. 1 Test side, and Kohli saw no reason why it would not work in the One-day format.
“I think the first challenge is not to think that we are defending the title,” the 28-year-old said ahead of the team’s departure for England for the tournament starting on June 1.
“When we went there last time, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves as a young unit and we ended up winning the tournament and creating a team which has done so well so far,” he said.
“Right now, the mindset is very similar — to go out there and enjoy our cricket, which we’ve done in the past couple of years. In Test cricket, we’ve been able to reach the top with that mindset, (along) with a hunger to win. We want to take it across to all formats.”
No margin for error
Kohli demanded from his team the kind of “ruthlessness” they showed when they won 12 of the 13 Tests on home soil last season. India’s batting mainstay also reminded his team that there would be little margin for error in the June 1-18 tournament featuring top eight one-day sides.
“Because the tournament is much shorter (than a World Cup) and you got top eight teams, the competitiveness of the tournament is much higher, right from the word go,” he said.
“In Champions Trophy, you need to be on top of your game from game one. If not, your chances go down pretty soon. I think that’s the biggest challenge in Champions Trophy.” India, who begin their Group B campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Birmingham on June 4, preferred experience over youth when selecting the squad, which includes Dhoni and limited-overs stalwart Yuvraj Singh.
Big hopes from Dhoni, Yuvi
Kohli predicted significant contributions from both the senior players. “They are so experienced that given the freedom to play their natural game in the middle order, they know better than anyone else how to build an innings, how to take the team out from difficult positions and how to win matches,” he said. “In the last series (against England), they batted freely and enjoyed each other’s company. When two of your greatest players play freely, it gives a lot of confidence to players batting above them.” —Reuters
India-Pak tie like any other match
Virat Kohli said the hype around the India-Pakistan match is beyond the control of the players but they will treat it as any other match. “As a cricketer we can’t control things outside the stadium. It is a big match we understand but in our heads there is no difference,” he said. “The hype and atmosphere around the India-Pakistan match is beyond our control, but for us it is the same as any other match,” said Virat.
IPL failure a lesson
The Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore finished last in the Indian Premier League, prompting him to say that the past season made him aware of his limitations. “After the kind of season we (India) had, when you have a tournament like that (IPL), it teaches you a lot about yourself as person at few levels, it made me realise you can’t possibly do everything in every game, and sometimes people might start looking at you like that, but as a human being you need to understand your limitations and you need to take a backward step,” he said.
