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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUPJune 29, 2019Virat KohliBirmingham, England, UK EDWARD: Hello everyone. We're the Playground Pundits, and we're taking over tomorrow's match to help raise money for children. I'm Edward, and I'll be your media manager for today. I'm very excited to introduce India's captain Virat Kohli. (Applause.) EDWARD: Now here's the first question. VIRAT KOHLI: Can I sit? Thank you. Q. Hi, Virat. I'm Neha. Are you and the Indian team excited for tomorrow's match? VIRAT KOHLI: Yes, Neha. Thank you for the lovely question. We are excited. It's a very special occasion, the first time that it's been done, and we're very proud that we're a part of such a special game, and we're very excited, and I hope all of you are excited to watch as well. Q. Virat, can I start by asking you, are you surprised that England have struggled at this tournament? A good opportunity for you to almost end their World Cup hopes tomorrow. VIRAT KOHLI: Look, everyone is a bit surprised that we thought England is probably going to dominate in their own conditions, but as I said at the beginning of the tournament in the press conference, that pressure is going to be a massive factor to handle and low scores are going to be defended. I said that because I have played two World Cups and that usually happens in such a big tournament where all teams are very strong. So anyone can beat anyone on the day. We got a scare from Afghanistan, another low-scoring game against the West Indies. So you can't take anything for granted. It's the way it is right now. The other teams have outplayed England on occasions, and that can happen to any side. Although we haven't lost a game until now, we still can't be complacent as a side. The reason why we won all the games that we've played is because we've been very professional and precise in pressure moments. It is a bit surprising, but I expected something like that in the World Cup, where teams are going to be put under pressure. Q. Do you think the pressure told for England? VIRAT KOHLI: Well, I couldn't explain that. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't. Maybe it was just decision-making, or I don't know what the players are feeling inside. It's for them to assess, not me. Q. Virat, we are seeing lots of comments coming out from the England camp in the sense former player versus current player, pitch conditions not coming out from Johnny Bairstow, saying this is not the kind of tracks we expected in England. ICC has given us different kind of tracks. Is that pressure telling on the team and the team is unraveling according to you? Because blaming the ICC, they should take notice also and take action, I think, but do you think something like that is actually happening? VIRAT KOHLI: It is not my problem, to be honest. We didn't come here with any kind of expectation of how the pitches are going to be. To be a good quality side, you need to adapt to the situation that is in front of you. In the last two games, I literally experienced that the pitch deteriorated while I was playing. It's not a thing that I go in with a certain mindset and, if the pitch is not according to what I'm feeling, I'll slog and get out. I think it's about finding ways to win, finding ways to score runs. That's something we take a lot of pride in as a team, and I just want us to focus on that. What's happening with another team or outside of our change room is of no concern or no importance to us, to be honest. They have to sort out their own issues themselves, I guess. Q. Virat, you spoke about pressure a couple of times. Individually and as a team, what do you do to cope with the pressure expectations with your own internal expectations. VIRAT KOHLI: Well, the focus is basically to do individually what we have been selected to do, what we have been doing for years. The more basic you can keep things in a tournament like the World Cup, the better chances you have of being one up against the opposition under pressure. The more you attach emotion or excitement or too much pressure to an occasion, you can't make good decisions. So I think people have stepped up at different times, and we feel like we've given a total team performance till now, and that's purely because everyone's just looking to execute what they need to at that particular moment for the team. No one's trying to get more wickets than the other person. No one's trying to score more runs than the other person. It's all about, in that situation, how can I contribute for the team? And that focus always helps -- basically, it's always helped us as a side to cope with pressure situations. So that's precisely been our focus. It's very, very simple, very basic. Focus on our skill sets, not too much on the opposition. If we do our skills well, we know we can come up in any situation. Q. Virat, are you actually conscious about rankings, or are rankings just numbers and don't actually have a bearing on the kind of game which you actually play out over the 22 yards? VIRAT KOHLI: No, no one can aim for any kind of ranking. Obviously, if you finish a full season being at the top of a team ranking table, I think that's a great achievement for any side because you spend so much time together, you work hard towards so many things together as a team, and you come up in difficult situations. When you overcome all of that and you finish at the top of the table, especially in Test cricket for three years we've done that now, so I can tell you from that experience that it's a very special feeling for a group to finish the last game of the season and go back home knowing we've stayed on top and we've played some really good cricket. So I think that's all that is in terms of rankings, and you can only assess that at the end of the season. I'm sure any team will say no one actually targets being on top of the ranking table. You just want to play good cricket, and in that process, if it happens and you finish on top, it's a cherry on top of the cake, I guess. Q. Virat, what's the status of Bhuvi now? And Shami has bowled well in the last two matches? Is it a nice headache to have? How do you look at this that all of your players are fully fit and ready to go? VIRAT KOHLI: Look, the great thing is Bhuvi is, obviously, we've known him for years now. He's been a world class bowler, and he's a permanent starter for us in the shorter formats. Shami, in the last year and a half, has come around amazingly well. As I said before, I've never seen him fitter, more hungry to take wickets, and he knows how to pick wickets. Even in the last game, the way he was bowling with the new ball on a pitch that was dry, that was amazing. Look, he has that hunger within him, and he's bowling really, really well at the moment. Bhuvi is recovering very fast. When he gets fit, it's going to be a bit of a headache for us to see what we're going to do, but we'll take the best call for the team at that moment, and I'm sure everyone will understand. All these people are professionals. Sometimes in cricket these things happen because of injuries and niggles. But at this particular moment, all I can say is I'm very happy with the way Shami is bowling. Bumrah, I don't think we even need to discuss him anymore because he's separated himself from everyone else at the moment. But, yeah, very, very happy for Shami. Q. Virat, the matches that Vijay Shankar played at 4, what's your assessment of the time he spent out in the middle, and as a captain, what else do you expect him to do if he's again batting at Number 4 provided the situation demands? VIRAT KOHLI: You know, it's a strange one because he had a decent game against Pakistan. I think against Afghanistan on that pitch he looked really assured. Shot selection, again, we discussed with him for that game. Last game, again, he came out, he looked really good, and he gets a beautiful ball from Kemar Roach. So you can't really sit down and pinpoint things, but I personally felt he looked really solid. There's not much that needs to be tinkered. Sometimes in cricket you just need a bit of luck to get over from 30 to 60, and then you play a defining knock for the team. He's very close to that, and we're very confident he's going to end up playing that kind of knock for us. He's in a good head space as well, but sometimes in cricket these things happen where you don't necessarily feel you've committed any mistakes until the time you get out, and that's it. So you do need sometimes a bit of luck, especially in the shorter format, to sort of take that risk and get over the line. Q. Virat, you talked about additional pressure for World Cup matches. When you go to bat, you don't seem to be under any pressure at all. Can you tell us, how do you handle pressure? Additional World Cup pressure? VIRAT KOHLI: I would say that's a lie if I say I'm not under pressure. I'm probably good at hiding it, so that's why you feel like that. Everyone feels pressure. Everyone feels butterflies in their stomach. I'm glad that I feel like that. If I don't, then probably I don't have enough motivation to play anymore because, when you walk up to bat, you don't necessarily look at the number of runs you've scored or what you've done in your career. It's about that particular day. That is the excitement that all of us carry as international cricketers is to walk into a pressure situation and come out on top and feel like, yes, we've done something for the team today. So I think those are the kinds of things that drive me and everyone else in the change room. You give anyone a difficult situation and have them bat well in that situation and get the team out of trouble, there's no better feeling. So I look forward to that, and maybe that's why my body language is the way it is. But in all honesty, everyone feels pressure. It's just the way you portray it to the opposition is what makes all the difference. I think your attitude needs to be right. You need to feel the pressure but want it. If you feel the pressure and you don't want it, then it shows on the field. I'm glad that I want it at the moment, and I'm able toe put myself in that mindset, and I hope I can keep contributing for the team. Q. Virat, a huge amount of discussion this morning on the kit you're going to be wearing tomorrow. As a man who appreciates fashion, how do you rate it 1 out of 10? How do you like it? VIRAT KOHLI: I quite like it. For me, it's right up there. For me, it would be an 8. (Laughter). Honestly, I'm not saying it for the sake of it. I really like it because it looks nice. The contrast is really nice, and we're going to unveil it at the end of the press conference as well. So I quite like it. The fit is great. It's a nice change. For one game, it's fine. I don't think permanently we'll be heading in that direction because blue has always been our colour, and we're very proud to wear that. Yeah, for a change and looking at the occasion, I think it's a very, very smart kit. Q. Virat, you mentioned that in the previous two games also that maybe a shot execution of some of the players or batsmen need to be better, but how do you look at the middle order shaping up? There's a lot of discussion about whether it's really coming up to the expectations or not? So what are your thoughts on that? VIRAT KOHLI: Look, that discussion is always going to go on because we've had such a strong top order that these guys have hardly had a chance to bat. When they bat, out of four times, if once or twice it doesn't come off, then we feel like, oh, it's not a strong middle order, but we overlook the times that it has come good. So I think, when you win games of cricket and people are contributing, you need to be content and happy with that. If you look at the first three games that we played, the contribution was absolutely fine. We were getting 300 plus, and no one said anything. We were like, oh, this is an amazing batting order. Then one game where we could not accelerate as much as we'd like to have as a team, everyone says that maybe it's not as strong. So I think what matters for us in the change room is even a 25, 30-run contribution, if it's getting to a score which can win you a game of cricket, that's more than enough for us. We're not looking at entertainment out there in the middle. We're not looking at playing cricket which is looking flashy. We want to be calculated. We want to play percentage cricket because, as I said, the team that handles pressure well is going to win games of cricket which are hanging in the balance. We're very, very comfortable and happy with how everyone is playing. Everyone is very, very keen to contribute, and that's all you can ask of all your players. Q. Virat, a lot of cricketers, former cricketers have come up saying that MS needs to work on strike rotation, especially after the Afghanistan innings. So what would you like to say about that? VIRAT KOHLI: I think I've said it after the last game as well. He knows exactly what he needs to do. I don't think that he's ever been a cricketer that's ever had the need to be told what exactly he needs to do. Look, again, as I said, it's a lot of things happen on the outside. What we experience and what we know inside the change room is the most important thing to us, and we have total belief in him, and he stood up for the team many times, especially if you look at this calendar year and the kind of performances he's given. I don't think it's fair to point out one or two performances which anyone can falter with the bat. We're not looking too much into it. He knows exactly what he needs to do. After the last game, he went into the nets. He worked hard. He put in a performance and got us to a winning total, and we won the game. We got two points. We're very, very happy and comfortable with, as I said, where we stand as a team and how the batting is going at the moment. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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