MUMBAI: Anyone who has followed the career of Indian captain Virat Kohli and has chronicled his exploits would tell you that there is one box in his report card that is yet to be ticked. That of scoring runs and succeeding in England. Memories of him nicking deliveries behind the wickets in almost all his outings in the 2014 season are still fresh. Knowing Kohli and the detail he goes into while preparing for each series, he too would have watched those dismissals multiple times and would have formulated a tactic to succeed there when he visits the country again.
That again is now as he leads the team to defend the ICC Champions Trophy beginning on June 1. India are placed in Group B along with South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and they face their archrivals at Edgbaston on June 4. Surely, this tournament offers a chance at redemption for Kohli to succeed both as a leader and batsman. The man himself has a rather philosophical view about his success or lack of it in England and feels players from the sub-continent are scrutinized unfairly when they travel overseas.
"The atmosphere around us is built like life and death especially for cricketers from the subcontinent. When other players don't do well in India and come back, there is no hype around it. But when we don't do well overseas, it's like a knife hanging over our head," he said on the eve of the team's departure to the UK.
Kohli also was emphatic about the fact that he did not view this tournament as redemption. "I don't play for redemption. My only motivation is to play well for your country. It does not matter where you play," he stated.
Apart from battling history, Kohli will have to shrug off indifferent personal form too. His captaincy in the IPL where his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore finished last, was uninspiring and his form too was patchy. Coming back from a shoulder injury, sustained in the third Test against Australia in Ranchi, he aggregated 308 runs in 10 games.
For Kohli though, the six weeks he spent watching RCB stumble was a learning experience and it could prompt him to review the intensity levels with which he plays each game. "From a mindset point of view, it made me realize that you cannot do everything in every game. Sometimes people might start looking at you like that. But as a human being you need to realize your limitations and take a few steps back. Maybe it happened because I had to learn how much you can do on the field and how much intensity you can play with. You have to choose your phases. As I keep getting older those things are important if you need to avoid burnout quickly."
Kohli was part of the team that won the tournament the last time and memories of him doing the Gangnam dance after India's win in the final over hosts England are still fresh in the mind. So what would be the takeaways for him from that success? "The opening partnership of Rohit and Shikhar was a revelation. It definitely played a part in the team going on to win. Ash and Jadeja were on top of their game and we were the best fielding side in the tournament," he lists.
The Champions Trophy will be Kohli's first big Test in a big tournament after taking over as captain in the limited overs format from MS Dhoni. The 28-year-old will be leading a strong team to the UK and will have the core of the 2013 team with him. India will be tested if they are to change the script of never having defended a world title though. Ask the Indian captain that and he says the team's greatest challenge lies in not thinking that they are defending champions. "When we went there the last time, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves as a young unit. We ended up winning and creating a team which has done so well so far. We have been able to reach the top with that mind set in Tests. Ruthlessness is something we speak about all the time."
There has been a lot of debate about the relevance of the tournament and although it is being as a mini World Cup, how do players and teams view it? Kohli feels the shortness of the event adds to the competitiveness. "In the World Cup, you can still have league games to get into the World Cup and dominate in the latter half. But in Champions Trophy, you have to be on the top of your game from game one."
EmoticonEmoticon