Indian captain Virat Kohli emphasized that winning a Test series in England is not the goal or final frontier for the Indian team and their aim to is remain on the top always.
Kohli, along with head coach Ravi Shastri was addressing the press in a virtual conference ahead of leaving for the UK tour for the ICC World Test Championship final and the five-Test series against England. The WTC final will be played from June 18 onwards and the England Test series will begin in August.
India has not won a Test series in England since 2007. They lost 0-4 in 2011, 1-3 in 2014, and 1-4 in 2018. Despite a couple of victories in the last two tours and plenty of promise, India has not been able to sustain for long periods and win a series.
“It is all in the head”, Kohli not too concerned about limited preparation ahead of WTC final
Despite this Kohli was sure that winning in England is not the aim of the team, but their goal is to remain on the top of the rankings, something that the team has done for the past five years.
“I don’t think there is any frontier for us. Our transition has been smooth. We have all committed to keeping Indian cricket on top and being the best in the world. In Test cricket, we have been No. 1 for few years in a row now.
Now you see youngsters coming in, so another transition is going within the team. I don’t think this is the final frontier and after this we have no idea where to go. This is an ongoing process to keep standard of Indian cricket high. We have done our duty in the last 5-6 years with absolute commitment. Our responsibility is to ensure we instill the passion and commitment to the next lot, and that’s how you remain on top,” Kohli said in the press conference.
“We have worked hard for the final. There were no doubts that we would be the first team to reach the final. It is like football, if you win the Champions League, you do not stop working hard. You want to win three and four, it is our mindset, we want to win the finals. Then we want to restructure, plan for the next three-four years and be on top for the next few years,” he added.
When asked to compare this upcoming tour to the one in 2018, Kohli said there is no change in the mindset.
WTC final should be best-of-three affair in long run, opines Ravi Shastri
“Firstly, I’m four years older. But the mindset has not changed. Mindset has always been to perform for the team. In 2018, I had a chance to lead. Contrary of the acceptance on the outside, we understand the kind of cricket we played there and how much pride we took out of competing in every game and losing every Test in an hour and a hour-and-a-half,” he said.
“We were never outplayed barring one Test at Lord’s. I only see it as an evolution of my situation in the team. In 2014, if you’d told me we’d be playing a WTC final in England in 7-8 years, I would have had a tough time believing it.
In 2018 we started having the belief that we can perform outside the home and Australia happened. I stopped looking at things as ultimate tasks and tests that we have to pass every now and then. For me, it’s about leading the team in the right manner,” Kohli added.
“Kohli of 2021 is slimmer, fitter, captain of the side, and India’s most successful captain. And he’s only five and a half thousand runs richer,” Coach Shastri chipped in.
(news18.com inputs)
