Ahead of first one-dayer against England in Pune today, India skipper Virat Kohli says the southpaw's return to the middle-order will take the pressure off Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Yuvraj Singh (left) and MS Dhoni during the warm-up match between India ‘A’ and England in Mumbai on Tuesday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
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Pune: The talk is over. Now it's time to walk the talk. The Virat Kohli era in India's Test cricket got underway in the middle of their tour of Australia in 2014-15. And the Delhi lad made an immediate impression with his will to go for a win in tough situations. Now, by tonight, one will know if Kohli goes the same way in his first ODI as full-time skipper across all formats, as India play England in the first of the three-match ODI series at the MCA stadium.
Virat Kohli interacts with media in Pune on Saturday. Pic/PTI
Logically, it wouldn't be a surprise if Kohli leads the team in ODIs just like he does in Tests, but he feels it could be different. "ODI cricket captaincy can be easier at times as there is more scope for the opposition to commit mistakes, so you can come back into the game even without pushing too much," Kohli told reporters here on Saturday.
Apart from Kohli's leadership, the team settling down as a unit is an important issue too. Since the team has just these three ODIs before the Champions Trophy in England in June, this unit must settle down quickly. The likes of R Ashwin and head coach Anil Kumble have already declared this as a full strength ODI team. And barring Rohit Sharma and a fully fit Mohd Shami, it looks like a unit that will remain more or less unchanged in the near future.
Kohli cleared the doubts, if any, that Yuvraj Singh will be part of the playing XI, not just today, but for the entire series: "Right now, we don't have the time to nurture the one spot as much because we have a big tournament coming up straight away, that's why Yuvi was brought into the team. Yuvi has had a very good first-class season, so obviously he was into the team before anyone else. So, I think this just gives the team much more balance in the middle and lower-middle order with MS and Yuvi. That is something we have discussed before picking Yuvi because we cannot leave so much burden on MS alone in the middle order, especially if the top order doesn't fire," Kohli said.
There is no doubt that the current England unit is a lot better suited to play the shorter format rather than Tests in Indian conditions. "They seem to be quite fearless, which is always a good thing in the shorter format. But at the same time, you need to understand strike rotation as well. You just can't go with one sort of momentum."
With a 1.30 pm start, dew doesn't come into play till about the final hour of the game. But that final hour, especially in a tense chase, can be decisive, as can be the toss.
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