Virat Kohli and his troops visited the Indian High Commission in Wellington on Wednesday ahead of their first Test against New Zealand starting Friday. India will be eager to finish the tour on a high after being hammered 0-3 in the ODI series. They had earlier won the T20I series 5-0. Ahead of the Wellington Test, the Indian High Commission hosted a reception for the players and skipper Kohli expressed his gratitude after being invited on behalf of his team.
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“We are very honoured to be here,” Kohli said in a video uploaded by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). “We want to thank you for inviting us here. Visiting the Indian High Commission is always special, we enjoy meeting our own people.
“If we had to share the number one spot with any other team, it would be New Zealand. We have had a tremendous time here, the hospitality has been amazing. We feel very welcomed here. We lost the ODI series, but now we have real cricket to look forward to that is the Test cricket,” he added
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{{/usCountry}}Also Read: Kohli to go full throttle for 3 more years, will reassess plans after grind
{{/usCountry}}Basin Reserve will play host to the first Test and India’s record at the venue doesn’t paint a very good picture. India have won just one Test out of seven played at the venue so far. India’s only victory in Wellington came in 1968, which was their first-ever Test at the venue.
Since then, they have lost four while two ended in a draw. So if skipper Kohli wants to take an unassailable lead in the first Test, he will have to emulate former captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi’s 52-year-old feat as he was skipper when India last beat New Zealand in Wellington.
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Despite these poor numbers, Kohli believes this Indian team is more than capable of winning Tests in New Zealand.
“We have prepared in a manner where our fitness levels and concentration levels are such that we can compete against anyone in the world,” Kohli said during the pre-match press conference. “That’s the kind of confidence we will carry into this series.”
“We are not the same team that we used to be. We have a very complete squad now.”