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ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY

June 15, 2017

Virat Kohli

Edgbaston, Birmingham

India won by 9 wickets

Q. You mentioned on the eve of the tournament there are three factors that helped India win in 2013 was the success of Rohit and Shikhar, the fielding, and Ashwin and Jadeja. The one new element that has been added this time is Bhuvi and Bumrah. Could you talk about these two guys, especially in the first 10 overs and in the debt overs where they have actually made a mark?
VIRAT KOHLI: Well, outstanding. Especially the last two games they've been terrific initially and in the later stages, as well, their wicket-taking ability, which is something the opposition always knows, so they're always careful going hard against these two guys, and yeah, their lengths after the Sri Lanka game, the length and line has been impeccable, so consistent, bowling close to the batsmen, always there with an opportunity to get a wicket, as I mentioned. Even in conditions which are not offering too much, bowling such lines that we can produce wicket-taking opportunities.

Big credit to both of them for getting us where we stand right now. A lot of credit goes to both of them, as well, for having bowled the way they have in the last two games.

Q. Virat, your decision to bring on Kedar Jadhav when those two were going well Mushfiqur and Tamim, was it just a sort of option to slow down the run rate, or were you looking at him as a genuine wicket-taking options or were wickets a bonus that happened happily?
VIRAT KOHLI: Wickets were honestly a bonus, Hardik went for a few in his first three, so we wanted to give him a bit of a break and cover up overs through Kedar, and with one left-handed batting, we knew that he has the ability to get in two, three, dot balls to the left-hander every over. But ended up changing the whole game for us.

Yeah, when moves like this pay off, I won't take the whole credit. Obviously I asked MS, as well, and we both decided that Kedar is a good option at the moment, and he bowled really well. I mean, credit to him. He doesn't bowl much in the nets, but he's a smart cricketer. He knows where the batsmen will get troubled, and if you can think like a batter when you're bowling, it's obviously a bit of an advantage to any bowler, so I think that he executed today perfectly.

Q. You know your innings today was again like a master class. In this tournament especially you have taken the less glamorous role, and you have left the flamboyant part to the openers or to other batsmen. How difficult or easy has it been adjusting to this?
VIRAT KOHLI: Well, it's not been difficult at all. I'm really enjoying the way I'm batting. For me the number of runs do not matter at this stage. I'm really enjoying the process, and something which is, you know, giving me joy is that whatever I'm practising and how I prepared after the IPL is paying off in this tournament. So I'm pretty happy getting the team across the line, honestly. Doesn't matter if it's three figures or two or even one. I want to apply myself in any situation possible. Last game was a bit more challenging in terms of chasing a low total and we lost one early wicket so I had to apply differently. But today, again, the way Rohit and Shikhar batted, it just gave me so much confidence sitting in the changing room. These guys just went out and especially Shikhar, the way he took off was outstanding. Those two guys really dent the opposition mentally and you can come in and play your shorts, and once you get going, the wicket was obviously very nice to bat on, as well. I don't want to take all the credit. It was a beautiful wicket to bat on, and the outfield was quick, so I think it was great conditions to bat today, and as batsmen you do want to capitalise.

Q. About Rohit, since he has been rested for the tour of West Indies, today he batted, so is it a conscious decision considering that he's coming back to international cricket after a long time, to preserve him, looking at the season? Like what's the plan?
VIRAT KOHLI: Yeah, Rohit has come back and really had a full IPL season, which has been hectic. They reached the final, so he got lesser rest than anyone else. Plus, you know, he had a massive hip surgery, so muscles around that area are always vulnerable, and today also he felt a bit of stiffness in his right knee, and we decided the smart decision is to rest a guy who's playing -- there's no doubt about Rohit's ability and what he brings to the team. We need to protect him going further because later half of the year we have massive tours coming up, and his batting contribution will be a huge factor for us. So we want him to be careful because after a massive surgery you do need to be careful. If you push yourself a little too hard then it snaps again you're out for seven, eight months. I think it's a conscious decision by everyone to give him a break. He's making the most of the form he's in right now, and I'm sure he also knows and understands the whole situation.

Q. Virat, any thoughts as yet on the all-Asia final on Sunday?
VIRAT KOHLI: No. (Laughter.)

Q. What have you made of Pakistan's campaign so far, and obviously from the first game when you wiped the floor with them, to come back and meet you in a final, you must be impressed.
VIRAT KOHLI: Yeah, very impressed. The turnaround has been magnificent. Obviously if you reach the finals you have to play some good cricket, and credit to them, they've turned around things for themselves really well. They've beaten sides that looked really strong against them, but the belief just showed on the field the way they played together as a team, and you know, regardless of who you play in the finals, it's always going to be challenging because once you start thinking that it's a big game, then your mindset changes. What we are going to try to do is repeat the similar sort of cricket that we have played so far, knowing the strengths and weaknesses they have. Obviously we'll have to plan a bit according to that, but I don't know there's much that we need to change as a team. I don't think we need to look too far away from what we are doing as a group, I think focus on our skills and our abilities and believe in ourselves on that particular day, and we'll give ourselves a good chance to go out there and do some good things for the team.

Q. The top eight teams are playing in this tournament, and two semifinals are one-sided. Does this surprise you?
VIRAT KOHLI: Not really. You know, in a big tournament, everyone wants to play good cricket. Everyone wants to finish games for the team, and you will see more clinical performances in tournaments like these because you don't want to give even a one percentage of chance to the opposition. So you will see eight-wicket, nine-wicket victories. You will see sides getting bowled out under pressure. And the opposition will capitalise. Once you see an opportunity, you have to seize that particular moment and grab it with both hands, and today we just felt like the wicket is so good, so there's no need for us to play a stupid shot and let the opposition in unnecessarily. We were able to rotate strike easily, and that's something we're working at in practice, so whatever we're doing in practice it's showing on the field, and we are practising smart, and that's why we're able to play in a manner that we're not putting ourselves under pressure. You will see these kind of results because teams obviously want to have absolute clear-cut victories and not give anything to the opposition.

Q. A beautiful wicket to bat on, as you said, but you managed to get a cluster of dot balls and low scoring overs despite a good partnership between them. Could you comment on that, and that led to wickets?
VIRAT KOHLI: Yeah, wickets are important throughout the innings. If you don't take wickets, then it's difficult to contain the scoring. As I said, Kedar's spell was probably the difference in the game for us when we were bowling, and he got us those breakthroughs and then we were able to build on it, and I think that the wicket was easily 300, 310 par wicket, and to get 260, to restrict them to 260 on that sort of wicket, they never got away from us, and that is a good thing about our bowling. It wasn't like they were going eight, nine an over and we had to pull back. We never let them get to six an over, as well. So I think from that point of view, it was very clinical by the bowlers, especially looking at how flat the wicket was, I think they adapted really well.

Q. You don't want to talk about the final I take it, but does it make a statement to the opposition, if you were to be other side of the opposition, do you get rattled?
VIRAT KOHLI: There are no statements in this game, honestly. On the day you arrive, you're not feeling well mentally, doesn't matter whether you're 100 or whether you had a convincing victory, and if youâ€™ve scored zero you've lost and you feel great on the day, you can win the game of cricket. That's how this game goes, and that's the beauty of this game. No one is a winner beforehand, and you can't predict anything in this game. We've seen some really surprising results, and it's been amazing for the fans to watch and for the players to be a part of, as well. We just want to enjoy the finals and we deserve to be there. We played some really good cricket. We're not going to take anything for granted for sure. It doesn't matter whether we win by nine wickets, we win by one wicket. We're just going to go there and try to do the same things again and again. Be boring as a team, and hopefully the results will come.

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