It wasn’t the most ideal of preparations for the upcoming ICC World Cup as India fell to their first ODI series defeat at home since 2015 but skipper Virat Kohli remains unperturbed as far as the team’s combination goes.
Having been 2-0 up, India were stung hard by Australia who came storming back to clinch the five-match series 3-2. The series was India’s final international engagement before departing to England for the World Cup and as such, there was plenty riding it on for the hosts.
Kohli had chopped and changed his personnel throughout the series, especially in the final three ODIs as India looked to figure out their best possible XI for the World Cup. Despite the series loss, the India skipper is confident about the team’s combination heading into the global showpiece.
“We are more or less sorted with what we want to do,” Kohli said after India’s 35-run loss in the series decider at New Delhi.
“Now it is just about giving guys their roles and expecting them to stand up and deliver during the World Cup.
“So we are not in a confused state anymore. Just probably one spot in the team that we have to discuss, and the rest of the team is pretty much sorted for us and we have been feeling pretty much balanced.”
Kohli feels there is only one spot left to discuss in the ODI squad.
Australia became only the fifth side in cricket history to turn a five-match series around after being down 0-2.
While not trying to use it as an excuse, Kohli stated that India had tinkered greatly with the playing XI in the final three ODIs to give fringe players an opportunity before the World Cup.
“The last three games, the idea was to give the guys on the bench and the fringe guys a bit of game time as well and just put them in those positions and see how they react. And you couldn’t have tried that anywhere else apart from those three games,” explained Kohli.
“That is not an excuse at all because we expect to raise our standard of cricket. The changes is not an excuse. It will never be an excuse. But we used these three games to give game time to guys who we think are good enough to perform at this level,” he added.
Kohli and the Indian players will now head to their respective franchises for the Indian Premier League (IPL) which gets under way on March 23. The World Cup, meanwhile, begins in England on May 30.
