Taking over the mantle of a full-time Test captain for the first time, India’s Virat Kohli said he was excited about making a fresh beginning. Insisting on a good dressing room atmosphere, the 26-year-old batsman said his priority will be to ensure the team performs consistently under his charge.
“Everyone is excited about making a fresh beginning. I am certainly excited about leading the side,” Kohli said while addressing the pre-departure news conference ahead of the tour to Bangladesh, here on Sunday.
Known for his aggressive and bold style of expression, the new Test team captain insinuated a change in approach which was about being more result oriented.
“We have learnt a lot and I do not think we now need to play with the mindset of playing to learn. Obviously, we keep learning from every game when we are seeing it on television.
“We have played long enough and know how to execute plans would really want now to achieve rather than go out of a match thinking what we have learnt from it,” Kohli said while making his stance clear.
“The skills have been there but now we need more consistency and create match winning combinations in Test cricket,” he added. Kohli said the team underwent a fitness test on Saturday as it was felt that fitness is one area “where we need to strengthen.”
Looking ahead at the future tours Kohli said the one-off Test in Bangladesh, which starts from June 10, will give a chance to strategise for the tours ahead. “Test is a different ball game where you need to plan for the whole day unlike the ODIs or T20s, where you plan for a short span of time.
“You need to manage the bowlers, manage the workload along with planning for the batsmen,” he said. “I have learnt a lot of things, good things and things in which I have not done well. So it is all about how you improve on your mistakes and carry on with the good work,” Kohli added.
Setting his goals as the captain Kohli stressed on creating a vibrant dressing room atmosphere where everyone would feel confident. “Most definitely we want to create an environment where players feel confident about their abilities.
“We do have plans and goals that we want to achieve. I feel there should be an environment where guys want to improve everyday for the team and keep,” he said.
Keeping the team above personal milestones, Kohli said the mindset will be to win matches and not play for self. “I do not have personal goals and I feel personal performances should not be the goal. A particular batsman might get a hundred in a losing cause which is not a good feeling. So, focus has to be winning the game for the team,” he said.
Kohli ruled out continuance of any tension between the two sides, which had arisen after the ICC World Cup quarterfinal encounter, where Bangladesh made accusations of favouritism against the umpires.
“We have no issues of the past as both of us have moved forward. I do not think there will be any grudges or hard feelings on either side. We are a professional side would simply go out there and practice our skills,” he said.
