Kohli hinted that Hardik Pandya may get his maiden Test cap against Sri lanka as he chose to underline the all-rounder's wicket-taking ability on all kind of tracks.
India had lost to Sri lanka at Galle during the 2015 series when Kohli went in with a combination of five specialist bowlers with a batsman short in the playing XI.
However the presence of Pandya, who bowls fast medium close to 140 clicks and is a capable batsman, provides Kohli with the balance that he so aspires.
"last time, we felt we probably were a batsman short and the fifth bowler did not do much in the game. We have those options again, but we have great balance in the side as well. We have got a guy like Hardik Pandya, who is a wicket-taking bowler. Every game that he plays, on any surface, he has a knack of picking wickets. He has a great chance of playing as well," Kohli explained.
He referred how Stuart Binny's small contributions became important in next two Tests that India won.
"In the next two Tests on that 2015 tour, we played an all-rounder (Binny) and that made all the difference. The extra batsmen would give us more solidity. We have taken learning from that and we will surely apply those straightaway in the series instead of getting a feel of how things will go. You need to have your best strike bowlers in order to pick up 20 wickets," Kohli added.
Kohli reckoned that it will be a good wicket to bat on. "There is a good grass covering and we expect it to be a good batting wicket. It was rolled yesterday (on Monday) and I am sure today (Tuesday), it would have been rolled in very nicely as well. And underneath the surface, it looks very hard. There is grass covering on it to keep the surface bound up and it should be a very good batting track," the Indian skipper observed.
Just looking forward to cricket now: Kohli
He has been asked this question a number of times and Virat Kohli on Tuesday just put a full-stop to the queries regarding the appointment of Ravi Shastri post Anil Kumble's acrimonious departure.
Asked about how the team is coping with all controversies surrounding the appointment of coach, Kohli said: "It (the coach issue) is something that we are not focussing on at all now. We (him and Shastri) have worked together before (with Ravi Shastri) and it has been fruitful and successful in the past. We are just looking forward to cricket now.
"We want to showcase our skills with consistent performances in this series, which we have done as a side ever since we started our climb back in the rankings after the tour of Australia in 2014-15."