Visakhapatnam: Captain of the Indian cricket team Virat Kohli made it clear Saturday here that he is focused on the upcoming World Cup and he doesn’t want the IPL to affect it. Kohli made it clear that his teammates should refrain up picking up bad habits during the IPL and also manage their workload properly and rest whenever they can.
Kohli doesn’t want the India stars plying their trade for various franchises, to drift too much from their ODI game plan during the seven-week league which begins March 23 and ends May 12. India play their opening game of the World Cup against South Africa at Southampton, June 5 – exactly 23 days after IPL ends.
“They (Indian teammates) have to make sure that their games don’t go (drift) too much away from the one-day mould of things. It means we will have to be very wary of the bad habits that might creep into our batting during the IPL,” Kohli told reporters ahead of their first T20I against Australia.
“That (not picking up bad habit) will take a consistent effort from all the players. The moment you enter the nets and create bad habits (innovative shots), you lose the momentum and you lose batting form. It is very difficult to get form back in a tournament like the World Cup,” Kohli warned.
The Indian captain also wants his men to be ‘responsible’ and not over-exert themselves. “If your team is in a great position during the tournament, you don’t mind taking 2-3 games off also. It all depends on how you feel physically but everyone has to be really honest about it to themselves. They should not push themselves to the limit that might hamper the Indian team later on,” asserted the Indian skipper.
The hectic schedule of IPL which includes a lot of travelling can take a toll on the health of the players and the skipper is a bit wary about that.
“The amount you practice, with the amount of travel during the IPL and the number of games in different conditions, in different temperatures, it is going to be challenging, to be honest,” Kohli pointed out. “So you must rest and recover accordingly.”
For Kohli, he is ready to walk the talk when he leads Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. “I would look to continue in the same way that I have in all formats over the years and not do anything fancy. Frame of mind is the most important thing getting into the World Cup, and we need 15 people who are confident and mentally happy,” Kohli signed off.
PTI
