Virat Kolhi thinks India are among the top 2 teams across all formats
Two series at home, two demolitions. That’s how brutal Virat Kohli’s men were against South Africa and Bangladesh.
Those wins, combined with a historic series victory in Australia earlier in the year and the team's top position in the ICC Test rankings, have left all Indian fans grinning from ear to ear. India have given no breathing space to any opposition lately, be it is while batting, bowling or fielding.
All the basics have been covered by the Indian team, and skipper Kohli couldn't hide his pride at their achievements while speaking with India Today.
“If you look at teams across formats now, I would say we're in the top two teams in the world… And we're very proud of that because we started off with a young bunch and transition is never easy but the guys have slowly understood the importance of belief and understanding their role in taking Indian cricket forward.
"So insecurity about their own game has vanished. If you see we enjoy each other's success and company and everyone is just wanting to help one way or the other for the betterment of Indian cricket team and in return the betterment of Indian cricket as a whole.”
Current BCCI president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly had recently spoken about the need to win global ICC events. This was possibly an indication to the team that they are expected to focus more and prepare better for big tournaments.
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Kohli’s best performance as captain in an ICC event has been the ICC Champions Trophy final loss to Pakistan in 2017. But he believes that the current team is eager and hungry to win big ICC tournaments anywhere in the world. Kohli stated:
"You could say winning an ICC tournament is like an obsession or like a wish that people have, which is a beautiful thing to wish for because it's seen at a global level and every cricketer would want to win that… But if you ask me, honestly I didn't ever think I would be part of the winning World Cup team in my first World Cup or two years down the line we will win the Champions Trophy as well. I never thought of these things but it happened. So it was meant to happen for us.
"But, in hindsight, you can look at a lot of things. We obviously have the desire to win big tournaments and big series and we want to give our best effort possible. But, if you focus on things which are only based on success and numbers and results, you don't enjoy the process. We play well as a team because we enjoy the process."
Speaking on the recent spate of brilliant performances from India's fast bowlers, Kohli stressed that the main goal was to enjoy each other’s success and to guide the younger generation in their evolution as pacers. He lauded Ishant Sharma’s efforts in particular, highlighting his role as a senior bowler in the team.
“Ishant is happy, he has played 90 Tests and he understands he's a very important part of team India - of inspiring the next lot of fast bowlers. That to him is more special than a ranking of ten players in the world and so on and so forth. So full credit to these guys for being able to create this aura around them because of that friendship, belief and the intent being in the right place," Kohli added.