Captain Kohli ups the Ante

India embark on a tough Australia tour with the aim to better their overseas record. Australia without David Warner and Steven Smith have been struggling but still they will be a tough team in their home conditions. Unlike the previous teams which have toured Australia, India have a better bowling and fielding unit but it is their batting which has let them down especially in foreign conditions. Barring skipper Virat Kohli none of the batsmen have been able to keep their consistency going in Tests since the South Africa tour.

“We have made a decent progress but still there are a lot of things to improve. The good thing is as a group we understand what needs to be done. Things are explained of what the team needs and it is upto individuals to take responsibility and implement things,” Kohli said  on Thursday.

India haven't been up to the mark in Tests, losing closely in South Africa, repeating mistakes in England to suffer another disappointment. But Kohli showed confidence that they have figured out their mistakes and found a solution to it.

“After England series we sat down to figure out and honestly we found nothing much went wrong. We played good cricket but couldn't seize moments which were of extreme nature. We have to strike decent balance how to control and how to get out those (tough) things. Myself as individual I will try my level best to do these things, show character access situation and try to adjust. Especially in Tests we have to tighten things up. We have done well in ODIS and T20Is,” he said.  

Besides Australian team not having a strong side India's hopes of rare win have also raised due to better seam attack. “We are always feeling good about the fact that we have a good bowling attack but our batsmen have to step up as well. Our bowlers are in the space and after a long time, we will we can pick 20 wickets in a game,” he said.

The skipper realises good bowling spell in helpful conditions with new ball can knockout the top order at times but emphasised responsibility of middle order to seize control when conditions get easy and lower order to step up like England batsmen did against India.

“We still understand that at the top it can get difficult where guys are bowling a good spell and so it is really tough. It is relatively easier for the middle order, but again the lower-order contribution will be crucial as we saw in England. Their lower order contribution was much better than ours and that made the difference in the series. That is where we want the guys to be fearless,” he said.

Indian team has improved fitness standards and Kohli feels they can keep up same pace throughout the day even though Australian pitches get boring at times.

“I definitely believe our fitness levels are up: which is the most important thing in Australia because pitches can sometimes become very boring there. We can keep up the same pace as in the morning,” said Kohli.

Kohli okay with no altercations

Under new skipper Tim Paine Australia are trying to develop a good image and Virat Kohli known for his aggression on field isn’t worried to shy away from arguments on field.

“When it comes to getting engaged in an argument on the field, I have been completely okay playing without an altercation. I have enough belief in my abilities.. those were very immature things I
used to feed on when

I was younger to pump myself and gain focus,” Kohli said ahead of the team’s departure to Australia.