India Test captain Virat Kohli is delighted that the Indian Premier League is in the news for cricketing reasons as the new franchise owners of Pune and Rajkot picked players from the draft pool.
Kohli feels the league is getting back on track after being in the limelight for all the wrong reasons following the suspension of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings for two years over the match fixing and betting scandal.
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During the player draft, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravi Ashwin, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis went to the Pune franchise while Rajkot bagged Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner.
“It’s very pleasing because we as international cricketers are responsible for maintaining the integrity of the game, make sure we give our 110 per cent effort in that particular aspect to keep the game where it belongs and where it should be.
“I’m glad things are back on track and it’s our responsibility to keep it right up there and make sure that standard is always maintained,” Kohli told Sport360° on the sidelines of the International Premier Tennis League in Dubai.
.@uaeroyals co-owner @imVkohli in the house #IPTLDubai pic.twitter.com/Bhp5BDQNZq
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) December 15, 2015
As far as the draft picks are concerned, Kohli said players moving away from franchises that they represented for almost eight season will provide a new challenge. Stars like Dhoni and Rahane had become almost synonymous with the Chennai and Rajasthan teams.
“It’s going to be pretty different. If you see the draft that happened, there have been different players picked from different teams and that is something that we haven’t seen for the last eight editions of the IPL.
“It will be interesting to see how the player auction goes (on February 6). It’s going to be a new challenge, different combination in both the teams. It (new team) can be even more dangerous than before,” he said.
A special message for @UAERoyals ahead of the final two sets tonight! #Tenfie #BreakTheCode @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/XV8fweuUjJ
— IPTL (@iptl) December 15, 2015
Looking back at the series against South Africa, Kohli said the team can improve despite winning the Test series 3-0, but India fell short in the ODI format – losing 3-2 and 2-0 in the T20s.
India next take on Australia in a five-match ODI and three-game T20 series Down Under in January.
“I think the ODI series that we lost 3-2, it could have been the other way around had we won the first game. We’re playing some really good cricket as a team. It’s all about making sure we capitalise on those important moments in the game. I’m sure we’ll be back on track. Australia is one place we love playing at, it will be a great start to a new year and new beginning I guess.”
Take a look at how the 2016 vivo IPL Player draft unfolded in Mumbai https://t.co/eFDN6h8hKm
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 15, 2015
