On the eve of the first of the much-anticipated five-match Test series, India captain Virat Kohli said he is not in the “frame of mind to prove myself in any country”. In 2014, he only managed to score 134 runs in the five Tests as India lost the series 1-3, despite taking the lead at Lord’s.

Talking about the same, Virat said, “Back in the day when I did not know better, these things used to bother me because I used to read a lot. I have no idea what’s going on. After the first two Tests in South Africa, I had no idea what was going on. My only focus was on my preparation and where the team has to head. If I waste my energy on all these things, I’m compromising on my mindset already. Because when I walk out to bat, I have the bat in hand. Not people who sit on the outside who write and predict things.”

When asked about the challenge of facing veteran pacer James Anderson again, he replied, “It’s pretty simple.” He spoke the importance of having the self-belief to achieve success.

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Kohli elaborated, “It all boils down to what you think in your head. Over the last few years, I’ve been more comfortable in my headspace and how I think about the game and my own game as well. I’ve worked hard on it. I’m pretty confident of my own ability and that’s the only thing I’m going to focus on.”

For the Indian skipper, this is another thrilling series in his already long career. He has been here before as part of the 2011 Test squad, and then again in 2014 when he suffered a rout at the hands of Anderson. He said, “It is something that you need to constantly speak to the team about. Especially when you have a long series and you know it’s going to be challenging you cannot afford to have individuals who are drifting away with their mindset. It’s a small thing that changes the mindset – when you take an adverse situation as an opportunity than something to be feared of, it totally changes the mindset. That’s constantly what we speak about.”

Virat Kohli also spoke about handing the dual responsibilities as well as keeping the side focussed ahead of an intense five Tests in six weeks.

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The Indian skipper concluded, “If you think about it as an opportunity — to be among the 15 or 16 players picked for the country when there are so many cricketers, to have the honor of stepping onto the field to play for India, if we are upset about it, there’s something wrong. We need to be excited about it, we need to take the good and bad equally, just be grateful for having the chance to represent our country and give our 100 percent. That’s something we’re going to be focused on this series.”