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ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY

June 3, 2017

Virat Kohli

Edgbaston, Birmingham

Approved by Tim

Q. India-Pakistan once again and probably will draw the same questions. Is there anything normal you feel about this game?
VIRAT KOHLI: Nothing different, to be honest. I know it sounds pretty boring, but this is exactly what we feel as cricketers. We're not saying anything different to what we feel.

And for us it's a matter of executing what we know best regardless of who we are playing against. And I'm sure every team thinks like that.

I'm sure all the other teams don't put more price on one game than another -- especially in a tournament like this where you don't have just one tough game, you have all tough games, right through to the finals.

So in a tournament like this, you can't pick and choose, and in general cricketers don't pick and choose. We prepare the same way and we take the same mindset into every game that we play for India. And as I've said before, you need to be 100 percent motivated playing for the country regardless of who you're playing with. So yeah, the mindset does not change.

Q. There are some news, maybe just rumours, can you clear the air: That is, there anything between you and Anil Kumble, the coach for the India team? And is everything right and it's not going to affect the team's performance in this match?
VIRAT KOHLI: So there have been a lot of speculations and a lot of things being written by people without actually being a part of the changing room, which is very strange. There are no problems whatsoever. As I mentioned before, if something is put in place as a process, I mean, I don't see why people are creating so many speculations about it. It's been followed last time as well, and I didn't see any issues being created last time. So it's the same process.

It's just happening after 12 months. And there are no issues whatsoever. The team is totally focused on the Champions Trophy, and I honestly don't even know ... people who even try to tell me about this I don't even want to know anything of this sort, because in a tournament that is in focus so much, and it's such a big stage, a lot of people like to find a lot of rumours flying around, especially before the start of the tournament.

So, yeah, they're doing their job, they're trying to create some nice livelihood.And that's all we can say. We're focused on our livelihood, which is on the field and that's all that we're going to focus on.

And unless -- I will just say one thing -- unless someone is part of something, I don't think they should sit at a distance and speculate and give judgments on what's happening. I'm not here to give judgments on anyone's life. And as cricketers we just focus on the Champions Trophy.

Q. India has got one of the strongest bowling attacks in the tournament, two world-class spinners and four really good fast bowlers. Your thoughts on that. And have you made a decision on -- because picking at least four of them is going to be very difficult -- have you made a decision on who is going to be playing?
VIRAT KOHLI: I think that's been on my mind in the last five-six days. The most out of anything else, you know, who to play, because in both the games all the guys have bowled beautifully and the attack looks really balanced. But how they come into the equation as all-round ... you can only play four bowlers apart from them. So who to choose according to the conditions, we've just arrived so we haven't even gotten a chance to look at the pitch the first time. We're going to go out to the centre. We'll have a look at the wicket. There are all kinds of possibilities -- two spinners, two fast bowlers, three fast bowlers, Hardik and a spinner. So we'll see what the wicket is like and what we feel is going to match up well against the opposition. Accordingly, we'll pick our best bowling attack. But as you mentioned everyone is bowling really well. The team looks really balanced. We're feeling really confident as a team. And that's showing how we're playing in the warm-up games. The intensity was right up there, and that's something that was really nice to see for me as a captain. It's a good headache to have. Until I see the wicket, we can't really comment on who is going to play and what the combination is going to be like, but, yeah, everyone's fit and ready to go.

Q. You have been the biggest match-winner in recent times against Pakistan, be it Adelaide, Dhaka or Calcutta, you won the match. How difficult is it, in each of those occasions you were a player, you were not the captain? How difficult is it now that you're the captain and also you have to be the match-winner, and then comes this controversy, how does Virat Kohli handle all this, being a batsman, captain, current controversy?
VIRAT KOHLI: How do I handle all this?

Q. Yes.
VIRAT KOHLI: You have to handle stuff when you're thinking about it. When I choose not to think about something, I don't have to handle it. I carry on with my normal life. On the field I'm captain. Off the field, when I have my own time, I choose to get away from things and relax as any normal human being would do. So I don't put so much pressure on me all the time. It's very important to switch off and switch on at important times. Talking about wanting to win games for the country, I've had that mindset since the beginning. So it hasn't changed anything just because I'm captain. I never played irresponsibly even when I wasn't captain. So there's nothing extraordinary I needed to do. That mindset remains. If I am in the position to take the team through, I would any day love to do that, whether I'm captain or not captain. So it doesn't make me feel like I have to do something extra here to get something going as a captain. My batting has always been similar. It's just that captaincy gives you much more responsibility on the field. And handling your players on and off the field is something that captaincy requires. It's a big skill to have.

And that's something that I'm focusing on more rather than putting myself under pressure. I'm just trying to make sure that all the guys are in a good mindset and they're feeling confident about their skills. Apart from that, I don't look at these kind of situations as something that I have to do well in these games or it's going to be really bad. I don't think like that. For me, every game of cricket is as important. And I play with equal commitment in any game that I play. So whether it is an ICC tournament or it's a normal game, my mindset does not change.

Q. In today's day and age, you guys have such familiarity with most of the opponents across all countries, but you play Pakistan once or twice -- or once in two years. And it seems like a good team, not too many big names in it. So how do you deal with the lack of familiarity, or is it a good thing to not know too much about them, like how does it work?
VIRAT KOHLI: As a team, I think, yeah, they can surprise you because, as you said, you don't play against them so much. You know of their abilities. But you're not too aware of how they react in different situations. All you can do in that situation is focus on your skill, which anyways you should do as a team. As individuals, some people like to watch videos and go through bowlers and batsmen and all that. Some people don't. I personally don't. If a cricket ball has been bowled, you should be good enough to handle it, whether it's bowled by someone you play regularly or you don't. You would rather take that up as a bigger challenge that you'll have to come up with the kind of bowling that you don't play often.

And you have to test yourself against that kind of attack and say I'm going to come out on top and, you know, prove to myself how good I can be when surprises like these come along. So, yeah, it's a good point. We don't play them often. So they've always been a team that can surprise any team on the day that they play well.

So you cannot ever take them lightly. And not being familiar with the way they bowl or bat, I don't think it's going to be a massive factor for us because we as a team like to focus on what we can do. And if you play good cricket, that works against any side, whether you play them regularly or you don't, you still have to play good cricket. That's what we all should focus on.

Q. We've seen a lot of high scores in this tournament so far. What would you say is probably going to be a safe total on the kind of wickets that we've seen?
VIRAT KOHLI: When we played at The Oval, I think it was a little bit different from Birmingham. The game I saw yesterday, the ball was coming on pretty nicely. The wicket was really hard and the batsmen were enjoying themselves. The bowlers found it difficult, and that's why I think New Zealand had different fields right in the power play at the beginning of the game. So that becomes a big factor in terms of, especially the bowling attack, where you're going to execute what you want to and how to contain the batsmen. I don't think in shorter-format cricket any total is safe in this day and age. A series against England we chased down 350-60 for 4, those kind of situations you could not think of before, 300 was a competitive total. And if you've lost four wickets the game is almost done. So you can never tell. Some people, if they have a good day, a couple of batsmen, they can chase down anything. So all you have to do is, even if you get 260, 270 or you get 350, you still have to bowl and defend it or you have to bat well and chase the totals down. It all comes down to application and who shows more composure in difficult situations in the shorter format rather than having safe totals. There's nothing safe in this day and age.

Q. The captains in this tournament have voted for you as the best captain. You've got the most votes. How much of an honour is that? And secondly, MS Dhoni's experience in big tournaments such as this, how invaluable has that been for the youngsters on your team?
VIRAT KOHLI: It's priceless to have his thoughts and views on different situations. And things that he picks up are really minor, but they make a massive difference in the course of the game or tournament. Identifying who is probably in a better mindset to do a certain job is something that he's always been a master at, and I keep seeking his advice every now and then to make sure that what I'm thinking is on the right path. Obviously we won't agree to everything, but more often than not we end up agreeing to the same thing because we're thinking in the same manner, which is to make the team win regardless of what we sort of plan.

Coming to the first part of your question, it is indeed an honour. If you see the names that are captaining the other teams, it feels good that they've chosen me as the best captain. Although I'm pretty early in my shorter format captaincy, but it feels good and something that makes me feel good but something that certainly wouldn't make me feel complacent at any stage. So, yeah, it's a good compliment.

Q. You have said the process has been put in motion and it will take its own course. Nobody knows the future. But how has it been working with Mr Kumble over the last one year and in this tournament so far?
VIRAT KOHLI: It's been really good. The whole journey has been good. And as long as the process is concerned, as I've mentioned, I've answered that before. And something that I don't need to elaborate sitting here. There are people who would know better about that and can elaborate much better. But, yeah, it's been good.

Checked by Wisden India

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