Couldn't have got off to a better start: Kohli

Having notched up two wins in as many matches, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said his team couldn’t have got off to a better start in the World Cup.

India defeated South Africa in their opener in Southampton and followed it up with a convincing win over Australia here at the Oval on Sunday. Up against another tough opponent in New Zealand in their match on Thursday, Kohli exuded quiet confidence without thinking too far ahead.

“I think in my opinion it's too early to decide that,” said Kohli if the team has taken a big step towards semifinals. “I think after about six games we'll be in a better position to know where we stand in the tournament, where we stand in the table, but we couldn't have asked for a better start against two strong sides. The good thing is we're playing all strong sides up front, so as I mentioned in Mumbai before we left, if we do well in the first phase, we'll be in a better position to reach the semifinals. For us it's actually a good thing that we're playing the stronger sides in world cricket if you look at the rankings before the first phase gets over,” he offered.

Kohli said India were more motivated to beat Australia after losing the five-match ODI series at home despite a 2-0 lead. “We were more motivated to win because of the fact that we lost the series in India, being 2-0 up, and there was no Mitchell Starc, either. So, him coming in makes their bowling lineup even stronger. So I think we had to be at the top of our game, as I said, and couldn't have asked for a better game in all three departments; set the tone the way we wanted to with the bat up front, getting a very good opening partnership.

“And yes, the results in the past, we had to make sure that against this side, we win all the moments, the crucial moments. Once you let your foot off the pedal then they will capitalise because they're always looking to be on top of the opposition. So very, very pleased with this win,” he observed.

India’s new-ball bowlers bowled excellent to David Warner to keep the dashing batsman quiet. It helped that both Warner and Aaron Finch didn’t want to go for bounraries.

“We sort of felt like they were a bit hesitant in going for the boundary option, so the communication was very simple -- bowl at good lengths but within the stumps and pitch it up, because as a batsman I know when you're not looking for a boundary option, the last ball you want is a length ball on stumps because you have to play a good short to get a boundary.

“I just felt like at that stage that they didn't want to lose wickets, that was the mentality that we felt, like they wanted to keep it so they could strike big in the end. But I think that was too big a total to play like that initially.”