Adelaide: Acknowledging the slow starting in the recent tours to England and South Africa, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has asked the team not to look for “tentative start” while taking on Australia in their first Test of the four-match series beginning December 6.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli, while admitting that they have been slow starters during their recent tours to England and South Africa, asked the team to not look for “tentative start” while taking on Australia in their first Test of the four-match series beginning December 6.
The 30-year-old also emphasised on the need to put their “A-game” right from the first Test so that a foundation could be laid for the rest of the series.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Kohli said: “We are not looking to start tentatively. We all want to express ourselves and go out there and be positive. We want to bring our A-game in the first game and capitalise as the series goes on.”
Detailing about the team’s focus on the game, Kohli said: “We don’t want to wait to figure out what is happening with the conditions or the pitch. We need to read it really early and alter our game, which we couldn’t do in the last two tours. When we have done it, we have won games. We have to do it for longer periods to win a series, which is our goal. We want to be a consistent side and for that, we have to adapt quicker than in the past,” he added.
Measuring the Australian challenge ahead of their first Test, Kohli refused to take their opponents lightly saying no side is “vulnerable” at home. He, however, added that they are focused just on their own performance.
“I personally don’t think any Australian side is vulnerable at home. We cannot take any side for granted and more so Australia. Regardless of all the things that have gone by, their skill levels are still there. We’ll have to be at our best to get the results that we want here,” Kohli said.
“As a side, we’re looking to correct the mistakes from the last two tours. The focus is completely on our side,” he added.
Talking about the unavailability of fast bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya for the Test series, Kohli admitted that Pandya was a big loss. However, in the same breath, he added that he doesn’t see it as a major issue.
“Every side would like to have a fast bowling all-rounder, which we don’t have now with Hardik injured. The workload on the guys who will play in the absence of the all-rounder will be high, which has been discussed,” he said.
“Losing Hardik is obviously a bit of an issue, but I don’t see that as a major issue. In Australia, you have to bowl really well even if you are an all-rounder to contain the batsmen,” he added.
India will kick-start their Test campaign against Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]