World T20 is going to be far more challenging: Virat Kohli

Indian batsman Virat Kohli has warned his side regarding the challenges and obstacles that stand in the way of India being crowned T20 champions for the second time in their history. The Indians are flying high at the moment with 11 wins from their last 12 matches. Virat Kohli has, however, said that the concentration within the Indian camp couldn’t be higher at the moment.

“We are pretty confident by the way we’ve been playing. We won 10 out of our last 11 games and we are taking some good momentum into the World Cup. The Asia Cup was a good preparation for us. For a big tournament, getting the feel of playing the big teams, but this is going to be far more challenging. There are teams from all over the world competing and if you look at both the groups, the teams are very strong and very evenly matched, “ he said.

The Indian Test match skipper also mentioned that the team will have to focus on strengths despite the other results that take place simultaneously. He also mentioned the importance of execution of their plans in tipping the results their way.

“It is going to be tough, but we would like to focus on our strengths. The oppositions do not matter for us as much at this stage. Obviously, we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition players, but it has more to do with the way we have played and continue the same. It will also be important to execute the same things which we have done successfully,” Kohli added.

Virat Kohli has also underlined the importance of staying grounded irrespective of the distractions on and off the field. He highlighted the fact that it was important not to get carried away with the size of the occasion and to remain grounded irrespective of the outcomes.

“Obviously, it’s a big event, the whole feel and the vibe is different as opposed to a bilateral series. We all have experienced that before, so it’s nothing new. The key is to learn from the past where the experience is required in such tournaments and ICC events, because you can get carried away or even over-anxious or even over-excited. Those experiences are not great for any side going into big tournament. The experience that we have from playing such events in the past is to stay on the ground as much as possible and focus on skills that need to be executed on the field.

“There can obviously always be a lot of focus shifting in terms of watching other oppositions play on rest days and stuff like that. It is very important to stay away from all those things and focus on what the team is doing. It is not important to see which teams win or lose so that your team goes through. These distractions tend to make you forget what you have to do for your own preparations. I think in these cases, awareness counts big time in these tournaments,” the 27-year old added.

Finally, Kohli concluded by highlighting the importance of the openers firing. While it is important to lay a good foundation at the start of the innings, Kohli said that the openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will have to perform their duties as per planned.

“Shikhar’s role in the side is pretty clear, which is to go out there and play his natural game. His job is to try to take on the first six overs and the fielding restrictions. I think Rohit’s role would be along the same lines as well. We have been able to bring in awareness while batting in the first 10-12 overs which obviously helps a side build chase-totals nowadays,” Kohli concluded.

India take on the mighty New Zealand in their opening encounter at Nagpur to get the ball rolling at the World T20. Virat Kohli will have to play out of his skin should the Indians attempt to pull off their first win over the Kiwis in T20 internationals.