The Indian skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri is confident that the Indian team is ready to give a tough fight to the English team in the upcoming 5-match Test series starting August 1. Even on the personal grounds, Virat has been come a long way since his last visit to England in 2014 and urged everyone to move on from that dip in his otherwise brilliant career when he averaged less than 14.
During the pre-departure press-conference, Kohli said, “Lot of people have held on to the last tour for too long.” India’s limited-overs squad will leave from New Delhi on Saturday. They play two T20s against Ireland in Dublin before playing the T20 and ODI series against England.
Both Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri were happy that playing white-ball cricket first will help the those playing all formats acclimatize before the five-match Test series starts on August 1. Even, the Indian skipper confirmed that he is completely recovered from the neck injury which he suffered during the final stages of the Indian Premier League.
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India will take on an England side high on confidence after the hosts smashed their own ODI record score by amassing 481 in the one-sided series against Australia. Virat Kohli said India’s wrist spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, would play a crucial role. He said, “We have two X-factors.”
However, the India skipper acknowledged that bowlers will find it difficult on flat pitches like Nottingham where England notched up their world record ODI score. He said, “Last time we didn’t consistently do well in the three skills as a group. We are looking forward to playing more difficult Test cricket after what happened in South Africa.”
The Yo-Yo test for India cricketers has been the talk of the town, but Ravi Shastri insisted that there was no getting away from the fitness test. He said, “You have a certain ability, and you can enhance it. Nobody should think it is a one-off.” Kohli added that by the time they play the Tests, they will be “so comfortable that we won’t even feel like we’ll be playing an away series”.
ODI batsman Ambati Rayudu was dropped after failing the fitness test, after Mohammed Shami and Sanju Samson were dropped after not making the grade.
Shastri also said that said they were focusing more on the pitches and the conditions instead of focusing on the opposition. He said, From the preparation point of view, it is ideal [to start with T20s and ODIs]. They will get to play T20s first, then ODIs, the Tests will come a month later. The first game against Ireland is on the 27th (June) and the first Test starts on the 1st (August). So there’s a lot of time to acclimatize.”
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The Indian coach concluded, “For us, there is no away, every game is home game because we don’t play the opponent, we play the pitch. Our job is to conquer the pitch. The boys know that they will be rated if they adapt to different conditions. So, if the other team has to adapt to those conditions, so do we. It’s not a question of where you’re playing, for us every game has to be a home game. You see those 22 yards, you say, ‘how am I going to take 20 wickets on those 22 yards, and how am I going to score 350-400. Keep it simple.”
