CHANDIGARH, India – Virat Kohli is confident that any history between Australia and India in the past will not prove a distraction as the two teams vie for a place in the World T20 semi-finals and any potential verbals this time around will only enhance his game.
Back in January’s 3-0 T20I series win for India in Australia, Kohli drew criticism from Steve Smith for giving him a send off and also got involved in verbals with Aussie all-rounder James Faulkner.
The Australians have played down any problems between the two teams and Shane Watson even explained how his team have tried to put Kohli off his game in the past but to little effect.
“We’ve tried a few different things [against Kohli] and it hasn’t worked,” said Watson. “The silent treatment we thought might work but he still just goes about his business and is able to churn out the runs. We’ve also gone fairly hard at him at times and I’ve only seen that affect him for about two balls once and I dropped him at slip.
“He knows his game incredibly well and whichever way we go we have to just try our best to get him out early because once he gets in he certainly knows how to put pressure on the bowlers.”
Kohli addressed those previous run-ins with Australia in a calm, frank manner, saying that these battles bring the best out of him but do not define his ability to perform in the blue of India.
“I’ve always said that I tend to thrive on these situations but you cannot just go in with that mindset only while entering the field,” said Kohli.
“Debate on the field or not it doesn’t really matter to me, I’m pretty sure of the plans I’ll take into the middle. If I do get into a debate with anyone and if I have to take a certain stand that doesn’t put me off my game, if anything that motivates me more.
“But it doesn’t mean that if I don’t get into a debate with someone I won’t be motivated to win the game for my team. That’s something I’ve come to terms with that not every team is going to have a go at you so it’s better to plan your innings without that situation and if that situation comes in you have to take it as more fuel to the fire.”
#WT20 Men: #Ind's @imVkohli going through the fielding drills. #IND play #Aus tomorrowhttps://t.co/G2l0iq8KK2
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 26, 2016
Although Australia’s side has seen a raft of changes in the ensuing months, Kohli believes the team must draw on the processes that saw them emerge victorious at the turn of the year.
“If you look at how we’ve played this season that [series win over Australia] is sort of the catalyst for our consistent performances in this Twenty20 season so far,” he added.
“We can focus on the positive things there that we did against Australia but we cannot take anything for granted. It’s very important to stay in the moment, stay focused on what we have to do.
“Why we were able to beat them in Australia is very important to remember. It’s not so much that we have beaten them and we can go out there and do it again, it’s why we did it.
“If we play to our potential then we have the ability to repeat that again but to play to your potential you need to focus on why that happened and not the feeling we had afterwards.”
#WT20 Men: The #Ind Captain is here and so is that sweet sound from his willow - @msdhonihttps://t.co/ToJqSWyTai
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 26, 2016
