Virat Kohli wants to succeed in England for his own satisfaction

Skipper of the Indian cricket Team and India’s newest superstar Virat Kohli made some bold comments before the team left for the UK. Team India flew to London to gear up for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, where they will be defending their title.

The multi-team tournament will be Kohli’s biggest test as captain of the Indian team since he took over from MS Dhoni, under whose leadership India won the Champions Trophy in 2013. There will be high expectations from Virat as he leads his side in an ICC event for the first time. The skipper himself will look to do away with the slump in form which hampered his Australia Test series and the IPL.

Virat Kohli doesn’t have too many fond memories from his last visit to England either. In the 2014 tour, he managed just 134 runs in the five Tests and scored just 54 in the four One-Day Internationals. His first and only half-century of the tour came in its last match – the one-off T20 International.

Virat to prove a point in England?

However, while speaking to the media before the team’s departure, Kohli brushed aside the fact that he needs to prove a point in England. Kohli, however, was determined to do well and succeed in England, just as the team did back in 2013.

“If you talk about the longer format of the game then I did not do well here three years ago. I was not able to contribute to the team and I want to succeed, although not to prove a point. It motivates me further to come back and do better,” Kohli said.”For me it is a game of cricket. From then to now, I have shown I am strong mentally. England brings a lot for challenges for a batsmen and I want to overcome them personally for my satisfaction at the end of my career. From that point of view, it is exciting for me,” he added.

Since he’s been at the helm in all three formats of the game for Team India, Kohli has tasted success in every series he’s captained. Most recently, he marshalled his troops to defeat England in an ODI and T20 series in India. He was looking forward to lead his side in a tournament as challenging as the Champions Trophy.

Excited to lead Team India: Virat Kohli

“I am very excited to be playing as captain in my first major ICC competition. As far as the team goes, we won last time because our fast bowlers did very well, our spinners were strong and our opening batsman did well,” Kohli quipped.

“They were the main three factors. This year the team is a lot fitter, the cricketers are a lot more mature because that was a very young group four years ago. It has gained a lot of experience in the last three or four years. I love the tournament because it represents a challenge from the (word) go,” the skipper of Team India said.

“In the ICC Cricket Wold Cup you have a league and a lot of games to play but here it is group games and then either the semis or you are out,” Virat Kohli added.India will take part in two warm-up games against New Zealand and Bangladesh before clashing against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 4. They will then face off against Sri Lanka on June 8. India’s final league game will be against world no.1 South Africa on June 11.