Tymal Mills’ pace doesn’t bother me: Virat Kohli

The Indian team will start their T20I campaign against England tomorrow in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Green Park in Kanpur. With this being their last limited-overs assignment before they take field in England to defend the Champions Trophy title Virat Kohli and the Indian team management would want to test as many youngsters as possible while also settling into a unit they would most likely field in England.

Ahead of the match skipper Virat in a media interaction talked about the various possibilities from himself opening the batting to the spinners they have in the line-up along with England players and their chances of being picked by IPL franchises for the tenth edition of the league.

The selectors decided to rest ace spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for the T20 series to give them time to prepare for the one-off Test against Bangladesh and the four-Test series at home against Australia. Amit Mishra and Parvez Rasool have been named as their replacements. Virat was asked about Ashwin’s struggle in limited-overs cricket and if they are looking at other prospective players.

“The guys who are coming in they have done pretty well in the IPL and domestic T20s. They have been economical and bowled in all the right areas. Chahal (Yuzvendra Chahal), obviously, everyone has seen his performances. Rasool, too, played under me in the RCB, so I’ve seen the way he bowls. He is pretty confident. He can bowl with the new ball even against the most attacking batsmen in the world.

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“These are two who have been pretty smart with their bowling, they can build up pressure by bowling dot balls, that can actually get you wickets. This is a breakthrough series for both of them and might be the perfect opportunity for them to seal their spots as the T20 specialists the Indian cricket side will have in the future.” Virat said.

The team has a mix of experienced players who are eager to make a thumping comeback and youngsters who have done well in domestic cricket and are excited to kick-start their international careers with a bang. Talking about Suresh Raina and his role in the team the skipper said, “He hasn’t played since the T20 World Cup. Obviously, we played a lot of Tests in between so it seems like a long gap. We still believe he has enough to contribute in the shorter formats.

“This series is a series of opportunities for a lot of guys to either get back in the groove or seal their spots in the side. The reason why everyone is included in the squad is because we have faith in them. It’s up to the individual after that to see how eager he is. The selectors and the team management can only do that much by putting faith and picking him in the squad. So I certainly hope he can get back in the groove because I still think he has a lot to offer to Indian cricket, starting with this series.” He said.

England have a bowler in Tymal Mills in their attack who bowls over 90 miles an hour and that is express quick. But Virat said he isn’t bothered about what the bowler is capable of and backs himself to do well. “It doesn’t bother me, I have played bowlers who bowl at over 90 miles an hour in the past as well”.