Chance to assess ourselves before World T20: Kohli

 India’s World Cup preparations have hit the right notes and Virat Kohli believes it has a lot to do with the amount of Twenty20 cricket they are playing because of the Indian Premier League. The Indian Test captain said it has made each member of the side self-sufficient in dealing with various match situations.

“I think it comes from the fact that we play a lot of T20 cricket. When we play in the IPL, we have so many games to play and express what we need to on the field. If you see this team, the number of IPL games being played by all the players is very high. I think even MS Dhoni is not required to put in so much thought as to what needs to be done because the players already have so much experience,” Kohli told reporters. “Even in the field, people are changing positions themselves knowing the stage of the game.”

Kohli who has emerged the best the T20 batsman for India with an impressive average of 50.62 said he has learnt to go by instinct in the T20 format. Kohli has hit only 27 sixes in 33 T20 Internationals but 127 boundaries. “The game plan in my initial days in T20 was to get 10 off 10 and then take off. I have come to terms with the fact that I cannot hit big sixes so I focus on boundaries.”

Kohli said they were yet to decide the batting position for Parthiv Patel in case Dhoni couldn’t make it. Dhoni bats at number six whereas Patel has had his recent outings as an opener.

“We will have to sit down and see where Parthiv will bat if that situation comes in where he has to play. As of now, unless we have a decision we cannot sit down and make a concrete plan. It is going to be different from what we have been playing with till now,” Kohli said.

The 27-year-old said he viewed Asia Cup as a chance to test themselves ahead of the World T20.

“Going into the World T20, the conditions are going to be similar and we will probably be playing all these oppositions at some stage. As many teams as we play before the World Cup, it gives us a great opportunity to assess what the teams are like, what the balance, strengths and weaknesses are, and where we stand compared to them,” he said.

Kohli lavished praise on young Jasprit Bumrah. “He bowls with a lot of heart and confidence. When he runs in, you can sense that he knows where and how he wants to get the batsman out. He can rush the batsman as well and bowl yorkers at will. He has got a good slower one and a different action which people are finding it hard to pick at this stage,” he said.

Kohli was also not bothered about the track awaiting them at the Sher-e- Bangla stadium on Tuesday but said dew could play a significant role. “You get dew at times and sometimes you don’t. That factor becomes important because the pitch plays very differently here with and without dew. We have seen in the past that it is almost a one-sided game when there is dew and all depends on the toss,” he said.