Need To Focus On Batting First Rather Then Defending, Virat Kohli Ahead Of T20 Series Against West Indies
Mumbai: As India prepares to take on the West Indies in the three-match T20 series, captain Virat Kohli said on Thursday that the team needs to focus on batting and total defence ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup.
India is currently ranked fifth in the ICC T20I team rankings
He said, “We need to focus on batting first as well as defending fewer totals. Those are the two things we really need to focus on. T20 is a format where you can play ODI and Test. Can use a lot more things than matches.
You want to give a chance. Youngsters in the shortest format, we haven’t played the strongest eleven in T20Is together, so on the rankings Cannot be considered, ”Kohli told reporters ahead of the first T20I.
He said, “Our mindset is that we will not focus on the rankings. Now to get to the top of the T20 World Cup, we need to field our best team, we are probably our strongest eleven matches in the World Cup.”
He also commented on the bench strength of Men in Blue and praised Ravindra Jadeja, saying that the all-rounder is currently at his best in international cricket.
“I cannot tell you about the batting position of each player. I am back in the team, so it is my responsibility to control the middle order. One person needs to bat for a long time and the other. Kohli needs to play with a good strike rate. Kohli said batting position does not matter in the least format, it is about getting the job done.”
“Having two wrist spinners is a big advantage when you’re playing in Australia because they have big fields. You need to have six bowling options in T20 cricket, I think we need to build balance, to play. There might be an opportunity for two wrist spinners, but we need to find a way to work around that. Jadeja is in his best phase as an all-rounder, we are happy with how our choices have been kept. T20 cricket is all about being flexible,” he said.
India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
India and West Indies are slated to play three T20Is and as many ODIs. The first T20I will be played on December 6 at Hyderabad.
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