India captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday said that his team would go all guns in the final Test making it clear that the team has not reached a point where they can change the playing eleven just for sake of it.
Now that the series is sealed, Kohli was asked if he is mulling a few changes in the playing eleven and he said it will be on conditions and not for the sake of just experimentation.
"Changes depend on conditions not on winning or losing. Our mindset is to be ruthless and try to go 3-0 up. Our changes will depend on the conditions and not that we need to give someone a chance for the heck of it. Right now, we are in such a phase where the team we cannot experiment. When solidarity comes, we will think about it," Kohli was direct in his reply.
The skipper did admit that he has made some errors while playing moving deliveries outside the off-stump.
Was it more of a good delivery or a mistake, Kohli said: "No it was a mistake. Not sitting here to make excuses. We get out playing flick shots, but we don't stop playing that. We get out playing cover drives and we certainly don't stop playing it. I certainly believe in that kind of mindset when I go out there to bat.
" During recent our to England (where he was getting dismissed in the same style) was a phase where mentally I was not into it. That can happen to anyone. Right now, I am feeling very well about my game. It's about eradicating out those few little areas you need to concentrate on.
"If I was not playing well, I would not be able to survive 15 balls, I am getting to 60-70 balls. Matter of concentrating a bit harder. As I said, lot of people have things to say and opinions to make, it is important as to what I am feeling in my head," Kohli explained.
Kohli also did not like the failure of the batting unit being highlighted so much.
"We are prepared to face any sort of challenge. I don't know why we are not talking about the fact that we are 2-0 up in the series. Instead we are sitting here and criticising. We are international cricketers and we are not hiding away from it. But if we are repeatedly asked those questions at press conferences, I don't find any reason to answer those. let's appreciate what the team has done and move forward in the same direction," he was not amused while answering that query.
Kohli agreed that the team is getting into a phase where they want to get ready for the bigger challenges ahead. "As a team, we are not looking to be at a certain stage. Create a work culture where people give their 110 percent, that's the habit we want to create in the dressing room We want everyone to be mentally ready for it. Everyone is honest and putting in effort day in and day out. We are all building our careers together and that can be a wonderful phase for Indian cricket."
captain takes dig at icc
India's Test captain Virat Kohli took a dig at the ICC, which rated the Nagpur track as "poor", and wondered why nothing is written when teams get out for under 50-100 runs on South African pitches.
Kohli came down heavily on the media reports on the pitches.
"Well, there have been three scores of under 50 runs (in an innings) in South Africa but I haven't seen any sort of articles on that. Teams have been bundled out under 100 for about six times in South Africa. Never saw any articles written on that. See articles are meant to be written. It's a mindset or an opinion of someone. I don't relate to it, I don't understand it and I don't entertain it. It doesn't bother me or the team," Kohli said.
local lad gets nostalgic
It is a matter of pride for any cricketer to lead his side but it becomes a special homecoming when he gets to lead his country in front of his own people at the ground where it all started for him.
India's Test captain Virat Kohli must be going through a gamut of emotions as he gets ready to lead for the first time at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
The 27-year-old walked down the memory lane recollecting his first century in a trial match for an age-group team to scoring an ODI hundred at the venue.
"My cricket started here with the state team. Played my first Ranji match here. lot of special memories attached to this ground. It is a special opportunity for me to captain the Indian side at my home ground," Kohli said when asked about his feeling of leading the side at Kotla.
"This is the ground where everything fell in place for me. This is the ground where I scored a century in a trial game. All the selectors and administrators were watching and probably were impressed. This ground literally saw me start my career," Kohli took trip down memory lane.