Team India left for a grueling tour to South Africa on Wednesday night where Virat Kohli and his men will play three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is. Ahead of the team’s departure, Virat along with the coach Ravi Shastri addressed the media and talked about the challenge of playing overseas, the conditions they will get in South Africa, mindset of the team and more.
Talking about the bowling unit, Kohli said, “Bowling has come a long way, batting has come a long way. We try to do well than the last time. It’s a opportunity for us to go back again. Try the same thing in a much better way. You need to take up the challenges while traveling to places like South Africa, England, and Australia because you go there once and then you won’t travel there for a long time because of the way scheduling is done. It’s an opportunity for us.”
When asked about the difficulties in South Africa conditions, the Indian skipper replied, “The conditions would be testing but this one and a half year will define this Indian team and the whole team is aware of this. It all depends on the mind set of the batsman. Any condition can be tricky if you are not in a good frame of mind. It’s important to take up challenges mentally and then every condition seems like home condition.”
He further added, “For us playing for the country is the most prestigious thing. We know what we want to do as a team. When you do something in conditions which are more challenging, it gives you more job satisfaction. But winning gives you satisfaction no matter in what condition you are playing. We have gotten off the pressure of proving ourselves to people.”
In recent times, the Indian cricket team has been focussing on staying fit in order enhance their skills, talking about the same, Virat said, “A cricketer’s career lasts from 10-15 years and you are one not professional enough then I think that’s being fair to the sport and country. The results have been relentless after bringing this change. No matter, we are up in a series or trailing, the intensity remains the same throughout. I’m really happy about the fact that the boys will walk around without being hassled. I have no doubt on the ability of our team, work ethics and intention of every player. We are on right track.”
