Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper, and head coach Ravi Shastri addressed the media ahead of Team India’s departure to participate in the Cricket World Cup that is slated to begin on May 30 in England and Wales.
Although this will be the third World Cup for Kohli, it will be the first time that he will be leading the team. “It is the most challenging World Cup, any team can upset any team. Team will have to adapt very quickly,” Kohli said at the press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Undoubtedly, Kohli will be the fulcrum of India’s famed batting line-up that has a fair share of problems of its own. The number four conundrum needs to be addressed in a unit that is not short of game-changers.
“If we play up to our potential the World Cup will be here,” coach Ravi Shastri said.
“The pitches might be flat, in England overhead conditions will matter. If you go to London, it will. You have to be prepared to be flexible,” Shastri added.
Kohli, arguably the best batsman in the world right now, will hold the key to India’s chances in the quadrennial event where he is expected to cross 11,000 ODI runs and also add a few more hundreds to his tally of 41.
India’s lethal bowling attack, consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami among others, is pretty much well-set and has been one of the most potent in the recent years.
However, Kohli and Shastri will have to decide if they want to go with an extra all-rounder, Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal or both.
Before India begin their World Cup 2019 campaign against South Africa on June 5, they will play warm-up games against New Zealand (May 25) and Bangladesh (May 28).
This post was published on May 22, 2019 5:56 pm