Ready to lose a few games while trying new things: Kohli

Dambulla, August 19

India captain Virat Kohli wants specific roles for certain players keeping a two-year time frame leading up to the 2019 World Cup in mind.

“For us, it is about the time frame. It is not about which opposition we are playing. You can’t pick and choose. I have never believed in that and we as a team don’t believe in that,” Kohli said when asked about whether he will use players depending on the opposition.

“Two years to go for the World Cup, now is the time to give players certain roles to get into the groove and understand what we need to do,” said Kohli.

The skipper confirmed that KL Rahul is a certainty in the middle-order while Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey will be fighting for the remaining middle-order slot. “Manish Pandey has done well and grabbed his opportunities. He has got a hundred in Australia as well and we know about his talent. He is super fit and has a bright future ahead of him. So he will certainly be backed. All the three guys (including Kedar Jadhav) will have to compete for two spots in the middle-order. There are no guarantees I would say. As long as there is healthy competition, everyone will keep pushing each other and that is healthy for Indian cricket,” the skipper opined.

With a whole lot of ODIs lined up in coming months, Kohli stressed on experimentation and not getting bogged down by the expectation of an India victory every time they step on to the field.

“For us, it’s all about when you want to start giving roles to the players and start experimenting as a team. Sometimes we get so carried away by expectations that we don’t follow a pattern. So it’s very important to understand that as a group,” the skipper said.

For him, accepting challenges and critical comments along the way is a part of that process.

“We should be ready to lose a few games when you need to try out something. We are very comfortable with trying things in very different ways. But we need to start making the effort because 8-10 months down the line, we will be solid in our roles and what we need to do as a team,” he added. — PTI