Mumbai: High quality rivals competing in a round robin format has made the upcoming World Cup the ‘most challenging’ for India skipper Virat Kohli. He said maintaining intensity from the first ball will be key to his side’s fortunes in the showpiece event, starting May 30.
Kohli, who has competed in three World Cups before, said they do not have much breathing space because they have four tough games upfront and in a way it should help them.
For the first time since the 1992 edition, all teams will play each other once to decide the semifinalists. After opening their campaign South Africa, June 5, India will take Australia (June 9), New Zealand (June 13) and Pakistan (June 16).
“Personally, it will probably be the most challenging World Cup I have played because of the format and also the strength of all the teams. If you look at Afghanistan from 2015 to now, they are a completely different side,” said Kohli at the pre-departure press conference here.
“Any team can upset anyone. That is one thing we have in mind. Focus will be on to play the best cricket that we can. You have to play to the best of your potential in every game because it is not a group stage situation. Playing everyone once is great for all the teams in my view. It is going to be a different challenge and every team will have to adapt quickly to,” added Kohli.
Talking about his side’s first four games, Kohli asserted that India have to be up and running from ball one. “That sets the tone nicely for us. Everyone will have to be at their best and maintain intensity from the first match onwards. You don’t have any room for complacency,” Kohli said.
“We expect that kind of pressure from the first second we step on the field. We are not going to let ourselves think that ‘first week onwards we will get into it’. You have to arrive on the day match ready with hundred per cent intensity and start building from there. This is the challenge,” added Kohli.
The recent ODI series between Pakistan and England saw 300-plus scores being the norm but Kohli said things could change in the quadrennial tournament.
“As I said the pitches are going to be very good. It is summer and the conditions are going to be nice. We expect high scoring games but a bilateral series can’t be compared to a Word Cup, it is very different,” pointed out Kohli. “So we might also see 260-270 kind of games and teams defending it because of the pressure factor.”
More than the conditions, his team will have to come out on top in high-pressure situations, said the skipper. “It is always good to go to any place in advance. You are right, it does (help) getting rid of the nerves you might have as a side going into the World Cup. Handling pressure is the most important thing and not necessarily the conditions,” Kohli opined.
Kohli said India’s highly-rated bowling line-up is ready for the challenge.
“All the bowlers in the squad, who played the IPL, they were preparing themselves for the World Cup. You saw all the guys bowling, The ultimate goal at the back of their mind was always to be fit for the 50-over format and not necessarily let the fitness come down and that was communicated to them before the IPL started,” informed Kohli.
PTI