India captain Virat Kohli is unfazed by his side’s tough start to World Cup 2019, where they will cross swords with South Africa in their tournament opener, followed by Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Kohli said those fixtures give the team management a chance to assess the team’s strengths early on in the quadrennial event. “Pressure is as much as you want to take it,” he said in an interview with India Today.

“We have always approached each game just as a [another] cricket match. When you step on the field, you can’t think about things on the outside. It’s just purely the game that you love playing. And if you want to win a game of cricket, you have to be present in each moment and use your brain and your heart at times to be brave.”

He added, “We as a team definitely don’t think of those things, regardless of who we’re playing because it’s just a cricket game. But the fact that we’re playing four strong teams initially, I think it also presents an opportunity to get into a headspace where if you do well against these teams, things start running on an auto-mode. So we’re all looking at that as an opportunity.”

For the 30-year-old, winning those games will see India live up to their pre-tournament tag as favourites and hold them in good stead in the business end.

“There are no easy games at the World Cup,” he said. “Every team is going to be as motivated and pumped for every game. We should be grateful that we have tough games initially so that we can find out where we stand as a team and work on things that aren’t working. If we can get on a winning run, then things can go really well for the team in a long tournament like this.”

‘Different tournament’

This will be the first time Kohli will be captaining a team at the World Cup. He said it “will be a different ball game” after being just another member of the victorious 2011 campaign and the 2015 edition, where India reached the semi-finals.

He said: “Well, if you look at everything together, yes, this is going to be the tournament where I’m going to be involved in a lot of things. In 2011, I was there as a player but I wasn’t involved in all the meetings and the pressures that come with taking the team forward. I was just happy doing my practice bit and contributing to the team. This time it’s going to be very different.

“Even in 2015, I wasn’t involved to an extent where I had to be involved in everything that was going on. To understand the magnitude of such a tournament from a captain’s point of view, along with the team management, it’s definitely a different ball game. And it’s something I’m really looking forward to. When you play so much international cricket, you need a bigger challenge after a while. And I think there’s no bigger challenge than the World Cup.”

Kohli insisted that he would not be trying different things just because it’s a World Cup.
“Obviously I’m going to try and contribute as much as possible, that’s always been my mindset. I wouldn’t say I’m going to do something different just because it’s a World Cup. Fortunately, I’m currently in the mindset that I have 12 months in the year,” Kohli said.

He added, “I never have to pick myself up for a particular series or tournament. Even if we play at home, after you’ve played a series in Australia, I’d still have the same intensity and drive so that the team goes across the line. I don’t necessarily focus on the things that are expected of me. To contribute to the team and make it win are the kind of pressures that I like to deal with. People’s expectations [of winning the World Cup] are absolutely fair but they aren’t controllable by me.

“So as a batsman, my main focus is going to be in trying to stay in the right mindset regardless of how the team is playing – not to get too bogged down or excited. I think that’s going to be the key in this tournament.”

India’s No 4 undecided

India continue to toy with their options for the No 4 slot, which remains a problematic position in the side. All-rounder Vijay Shankar has been penciled in by Board of Control for Cricket in India chief selector MSK Prasad to walk in at two-down. But Kohli is keeping his options wide open.

“We tried a lot of things for the slot but now we are not worried,” he said.

“Vijay is a three-dimensional cricketer and a proper batsman. Who’ll bat at No 4 is a call we will take later.”

Many of Kohli’s centuries in recent times have seen him run hard between the wickets and get the odd boundary. The Delhi dasher said it was a result of him keeping his options open for scoring runs.

“For me it is all about preparing for the worst-case scenario... I need to give myself the best options to get the team to victory,” Kohli said.