Virat Kohli on his team: We have more experience

England captain Joe Root (right) and India skipper Virat Kohli chat ahead of the series trophies photo call on Monday. Pic/Getty Images

For a team that have conquered Australia twice on successive tours in 2018-19 and 2020-21, India's next biggest challenge is to triumph in England. Since 2014, England have lost only two Test series at home - to Sri Lanka 0-1 and recently to New Zealand before the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Though both were two-Test series, the contest against India will comprise five Tests, starting in Trent Bridge, Nottingham today.

Team India were crushed 1-4 during their last series on English soil in 2018, but the scoreline does not reflect how closely-fought that battle was.

‘Used to the weather'

Skipper Virat Kohli believes his team are better equipped this time than in 2018, thanks to the time (June 18 to 23) they got after the WTC final concluded in Southampton. "We've been here for two months. You get used to that weather, which changes so quickly. Your body also gets acclimatised to those changes. Those small changes matter and mentally, you get more comfortable, so that's a factor that may be a little advantageous.

Better self belief

"Secondly, compared to the last tour, we have more experience. Our younger players are back here for a second time. Those things we couldn't execute last time as a team, I'm confident this time, even if some fail, which will happen, we will have someone in every situation who can handle it. Someone or the other will say, ‘I can lift the team from this situation.' So this belief has grown significantly since the last tour," Kohli told reporters during a virtual press conference on the eve of today's Test.

The fickle English weather and tricky conditions can make scoring hard for batsmen. Kohli, though, showed the way with his masterclass batting display during the last tour, where he scored 593 runs at an average of 59.30 - a far cry from his 134 runs at 13.40 in five Tests during the English summer of 2014.

Kohli said it is important to embrace the difficult situations. "You can have all the experience in the world, but it boils down to execution in crunch moments. That comes only from belief and how badly you want to be in situations which are not easy. As long as you are trying to embrace that, you will find answers to all the questions that are thrown at us," the Indian skipper said.

"I have loved every moment of it. Otherwise, in my opinion, you cannot play at this level for a long time - if you don't want to be in situations that are totally opposite to what your comfort zone is," he added.

Kohli refused to add that ‘extra special' element if India win the Test series in England this time. "For us, it is all about playing difficult, tough cricket and wanting to win in conditions that are not ours. That is the only challenge I see," he said.

‘Criticism doesn't affect Pujara'

India skipper Virat Kohli seemed unfazed dealing with a selectorial headache to decide Rohit Sharma's opening partner after Mayank Agarwal was ruled out of the first Test due to a concussion. He also backed Cheteshwar Pujara, who faced criticism for his slow batting during the WTC final.

"I honestly feel that a player of his calibre should be left alone and the responsibility is with the individual to figure the drawbacks in his game that he needs to work on. I can from the outside say that the criticism is unnecessary, but I know for a fact that Pujara does not care," he said.

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