Kolkata: Indian captain Virat Kohli has stressed on the importance of maintaining the same momentum and intensity, going into the test series against Sri Lanka which gets underway at Eden Gardens from Thursday. The Indian team will look to continue its dominance over the Lankans. On being asked whether it is an overdose for the fans to watch the same opponents clash against each other so often, Kohli said,”If there is too much cricket being played or there is a repetition of same series happening or not, for us, as I said, playing cricket for the country and we do what we are presented with every time.”
Kohli emphasised his team team will not approach the upcoming Test series in a different manner just because they had whitewashed the visitors. The Indian captain stressed that they want to maintain their consistency as a team and will take on Sri Lanka like they would have done against any other team.
“Every match you play is important and every series is huge. It’s not like we lose this series and you guys are not going to say nothing to us. So, everything is important when you play for the country and we don’t like to differentiate. We simply want to do well as a team.”
Talking about the conditions, Kohli maintained that this current team is not intimidated with any situations.
“Whatever the conditions we play at, whatever combinations we need to play, we do that accordingly. Keeping in mind that winning is the most important thing and for that everyone is on the same page whether we play in India or away from India,” said Kohli to the reporters ahead of the first test match here.
He added, “Regardless of the opposition we play and we want to maintain our consistency as a team and that has worked for us because we do not differentiate in terms of where we are playing, how we are playing, what team we are playing against.”
Playing good cricket across all oppositions anywhere in the world is the key focus for the team.
“We just want to play good cricket as a team and the results take care of themselves anywhere in the world. It’s not like in India you can get away by playing bad cricket. The eventual goal is to respect the sport and skill sets that we have and try to execute that in every situation and every condition we are in.”
The men in blue will embark on a rigorous tour to South Africa at the end of the year. Kohli maintained that they needed to maintain the winning momentum before heading to South Africa.
“Again we have to get back into the Test mode and create momentum from this game and then carry it forward because we are playing Test cricket straight after as well so. It always feels nice to comeback in Test cricket as the challenges are different and something we look forward to,” said Kohli.