A pursuit of excellence: Kohli

Says winning in England is the same as anywhere else

Prize to play for: England’s Joe Root and India’s Virat Kohli with the series trophies ahead of the first Test.

India captain Virat Kohli on Monday said it takes “relentless madness” and single-minded pursuit of excellence to win a Test series in England.

Led by Kohli, India will take on Joe Root’s England in a gruelling five-match Test series, beginning here from Wednesday.

“I will answer your second question first, it takes relentless madness and pursuit of excellence every day over a five-Test series, to tell yourself I want to do the hard work and I want to get into situations, which are tough in every Test match on every day.

“And you are going to be ready for that kind of workload, and that kind of mental load,” Kohli told ‘Sky Sports’ when asked by former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik on what it takes to win a Test series in England.

For Kohli personally, winning in England is nothing more than winning anywhere else and it is all about the team culture of going for a win. “To answer your first question, for me personally, it means nothing more than winning a Test match or a Test series anywhere else in the world.”