"Most Challenging World Cup": Virat Kohli Before Team Leaves For England

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 Virat Kohli but 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 any team. Team will have to adapt very quickly," Kohli said at the press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. 

"We expect all kind of scores in the World Cup, but there would be few high scoring games looking at the predictions," Virat Kohli added.

Undoubtedly, Virat 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.

"This is an experienced unit, we have accomplished. Each one compliments each other," Shastri added.

Virat 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.

"It's going to be challenging but the good thing is gap, players will have time to re-group,"Kohli said.

"In football player maintain their intensity for three-four months, like in the Premier League or La Liga," the Indian skipper added.

"You can take motivation from anywhere, when you talk about Indian Army, if we can do anything for them, it will be the best," Kohli added. 

"We can't think about one team in the World Cup, have to maintain the intensity throughout," Shastri said.

"Will have to be prepared for the World Cup at the best of our abilities, shouldn't think about any opposition," Kohli added. 

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 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).

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Virat Kohli World Cup 2019 Cricket