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ICC World Cup 2019: Handling pressure most important - Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is no stranger to the kind of pressure the weight of expectations in the cricket crazy country will bring. “Handling pressure is the most important thing in the World Cup, and not necessarily the conditions,” said Kohli on the eve of the team’s departure for the ICC World Cup 2019.
At the ICC World Cup 2019, the support for Virat Kohli’s team will be crazy, but the scrutiny around their performances will also be suffocating.
Kohli is no stranger to the kind of pressure the weight of expectations in the cricket crazy country will bring. “Handling pressure is the most important thing in the World Cup, and not necessarily the conditions,” said Kohli on the eve of the team’s departure for the ICC World Cup 2019.
With the ICC going back to the 1992 World Cup format where all the teams play each other in a round-robin league, Kohli said it will be tough: “Personally, I feel, it is probably the most challenging World Cup of all the three that I have been a part of because of the format. Looking at strengths of all the sides as well. If you look at an Afghanistan from 2015 to now, they are a completely different side. Any team can upset anyone on their day. That’s one thing we have in mind,” said Kohli.
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Looking at England’s recent performances, and the big totals in their series against Pakistan, the prediction is of it being a high-scoring tournament. “Yeah, we expect high scoring games but bilateral series compared to a World Cup, is very different. You might see a lot of -- I wouldn’t say low-scoring games but -- 260-270 kind of games and teams getting those totals and defending them successfully. So, we expect all kind of scenarios in the World Cup, but there will be quite a few high-scoring games, looking at the conditions,” said the India captain.
Coach Ravi Shastri said in England staying flexible will be important as conditions change quickly. “Our mantra will be to be flexible, and be flexible according to the conditions. Because (England) it is one country where pitches might be flat but if the overhead conditions change then you got to be up with it.”
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For the players who didn’t have a good IPL, including himself, Kohli said they were wiser for the experience. Irrespective of his IPL showing, he called Kuldeep Yadav, alongwith Yuzvendra Chahal as the two pillars of his bowling line-up. “It is important to see a period when things don’t go your way also. We know the kind of skill set Yadav possesses along with Chahal. They are really the two pillars of our bowling line up.”
Kohli said playing tough teams straight up will be ideal to set the tone for the event. “The best thing is we have four tough games straight up, it sets up things nicely, everyone has to be at their best, gain intensity from the first match itself and you don’t have any room for complacency.”
