Debasis Sen, Melbourne: Indian captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday said his focus will be to win the Boxing Day test match which starts tomorrow here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). But at the same time the Indian captain made it clear he can’t guarantee he’ll dial down his on-field verbal war with Aussie skipper Tim Paine.
Kohli will be hoping to become the first Indian captain to win a test series Down Under. But for that to happen he have to face a buoyant Australian side, who are high on confidence after the win at Perth. The Indian did suffer a blow as champion off spinner Ravi Ashwin has been ruled out of the second straight game of the series. Ashwin’s off spin would have been a great weapon in the armory for Kohli on this MCG strip.
Both captains Kohli and Paine had a running on-field battle in Perth, and even came close to contact on the fourth day before they exchanged a frosty post-game handshake.
But while Kohli has been painted as the villain in a scintillating series so far, the Indian captain said the war would be won on skills, not one-liners.
“That’s in the past. It’s Test cricket at the highest level when two tough teams are going against each other,” Kohli said on Christmas Day.
“There will be things happen on the field. I think it’s important to leave it there. We are definitely not trying to find something to talk about.
“You just want to play good competitive cricket and when both teams are passionate and desperate to win those things happen on the field. As long as the line is not crossed, you have no issues.
“I’m sure Tim and myself both understand what happened and we definitely don’t want to do something unnecessary. We want to lead our teams well and play good cricket.”
Kohli said he wasn’t concerned with what people thought of him anyway.
“I am never going to take a banner outside in the world and explain myself, that this is who I am and you need to like me,” he said.
“These are things that happen on the outside, I literally have no control of that. It’s an individual choice what you want to focus on, my focus is on winning the Test match.
“I have no idea about what people say. Everyone is entitled to their point of view. I just want to focus on good cricket and make my team win.”