Rajkot: India Test skipper Virat Kohli has said adjusting to the Decision Review System (DRS) won’t be a problem for the team as it gets ready to take on England in the first cricket Test here on Wednesday.
“There is no rocket science to DRS. You have a fair idea of where the ball has hit, where it has pitched and whether it is in line or not. It’s pretty basic things in cricket so we don’t need to necessarily go through a course for DRS,” Kohli told reporters on the eve of the first Test.
This will be the first Test series in India where the DRS, which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has consistently opposed, will be used.
“We have observed enough watching on television how DRS is used and it’s really important what the bowler and wicket-keeper thinks of that event or a referral if it has to be made.”
“So it’s pretty simple. We are not too much focussing on it. Yes it gives you another opportunity to check on the decisions you feel is not right and I think it’s pretty fair,” Kohli added.
England will go into the series as underdogs given their recent 1-1 draw in a two-match Test series against hosts Bangladesh. The Alastair Cook captained side lost the second Test after winning the first to draw the series.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has constantly said it would be very difficult for the English to beat India who are currently World No. 1 in Tests and have just whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 in a series. Kohli though isn’t reading too much into the mind games.
“Underdog thing, I don’t know if it’s really to do with us being a very strong team. Some people might play it low and then surprise the opposition.”
“We are quite aware of those things, those sort of tactics we have seen in the past. We are not going to go ahead of ourselves. We understand what we need to do so not getting carried away. We never get carried away by praise. We will continue winning games of cricket and nothing changes for us,” Kohli said.
Asked if his own unimpressive form against England ruffles him, he said, “Not really. Its been a phase where I didn’t perform too well and it happened to be in England. It could have been any other country in the world. I take it as a setback in my career.”
The Delhi lad said the team was prepared for a hard time at home with quality sides like New Zealand (India won 3-0), England and Australia later coming up and series like these builds the character of the entire bunch.
“Since we came back from the West Indies we knew the home series’ were going to be tough. We are playing quality sides. New Zealand, England, Australia so we knew its going to be a tough season at home and for that we need to be more aware during crucial situations.”
“There are areas we have addressed that need improvement even from the last series. We improved on them in the last Test match we played, specially losing wickets at key times before breaks and after breaks. That was something that really hampered us in the last two series,” the 28-year-old said.
“We are improving as a side. The mindset is not to compete anymore. We want to win games and series’. So to do that you need to be at at our best game all the time and even keep improving that as well. That’s the mindset and challenge.”
–IANS