New Delhi/Durban: Virat will return to lead India in the coloured outfit after missing the Sri Lanka limited-over series and the skipper believes the Indian team is capable of creating history when they lock horns with South Africa in the series opener in Durban.
The 29-year-old also said that the experiment in the middle order will continue for some time but the conditions make Ajinkya Rahane a favourite for the Number four spot for the World Cup in England, given the fact that he has an experience in that position in the previous editions of the tournament.
“We have explored many options in the last few months. We don’t have too many series and too much time left before the World Cup, we want to explore all the options before the World Cup. I had said earlier that Ajinkya will be looked at as a third opener, but that situation can change because he has batted at No. 4 in a World Cup before. These conditions are such that you get to play fast bowling throughout the innings so he becomes a strong candidate for No. 4. Other than that we have Shreyas, Manish, Kedar can play No. 5 and 6, Hardik is there, and MS is obviously there. We have kept all these options open, we don’t want to be one-dimensional. It depends whose technique is more suited to what spot. Especially in that particular country. All options are open. Everything is on the table.”
Balance winning the series vis-à-vis exploring World Cup combinations
Obviously, we have quality players in the side. It’s not like we are compromising on the results. It is about finding players who fit a particular spot better in certain conditions. That will be our mindset. We will play the World Cup in England, which will be very different to what we get in India. People who might be doing well at home might not necessarily repeat their performances in England. It’s very different. We will have to figure out which players’ game suits the team best in particular conditions that we play, at a particular spot. I don’t think the quality of the team will be compromised in any way regardless of who takes the No. 4 position because we have strong batsmen above and below to stabilize the innings. I am pretty confident about all the guys in the team.
When asked about whether he has found his team that will be heading to England next year, Virat said, “Definitely. We feel that the core of players is more or less sorted. It’s about who takes that one particular spot. It’s not even spots above and below. Guys who are given the opportunity need to capitalise and really string in performances that convince the management and the team very soon that that guy is meant to play at that spot for the team. I feel the core of players is more or less pretty strong at the moment. Obviously, changes can happen at any stage. You don’t know whether someone is going to be in form or not or what the team requires at certain stages. How I see it, more or less the core is found.”
Areas that need to be identified?
The middle order is something that… although the lower middle order is more or less sorted. The combination is working well for us with Hardik and Kedar and MS rotating and batting together. No. 4 is something we have experimented with in the last couple of series. That is the only spot I can see that needs to be solidified otherwise the team looks pretty balanced.
Litmus test for spinners? And can KL come back?
As I said, anything is possible. KL is obviously a quality player. He has played one-dayers for a while. His performances might not have been as good as they are in Test cricket and T20 cricket. It can be difficult to find the right balance in one-day cricket from the get-go. Anything is possible in future. Secondly, we are one of the few teams, or probably the only team in world cricket, to be blessed with wrist spinner. And Kedar Jadhav doing the conventional job pretty well for the team. That’s why I said the balance of the team is pretty good at the moment. Wrist spinners help you in any conditions in the world. Wrist spinners can go for six an over but they will pick you three wickets as well, which is eventually the difference in the game.
We are happy to have two who are very different to each other. We don’t have two leggies or two Chinamen. Both are very different and versatile in their own way. I think that is going to be a major strength for this team going forward.
Great time to be you as captain with all resources available?
It’s not only me. A lot of people are involved. The management is there. The selectors are obviously keeping an eye on the guys that are coming up. Potentially what happens is you pick up back-ups for all the slots in the XI. Every spot is covered basically. That is how you create bench strength. Secondly for us as team management, and myself, we look at characters before we look at skill. We look at a guy who scored 40 when the team needed it the most. Compared to a guy who has scored runs but they might not have affected the state of the game that much. We look for game-changers, we look for guys who embrace pressure, we look for guys who want to be in difficult situations. Because in one-day cricket you don’t have another day to come back and do something extra. You have to make decisions there and then. You need to be at the top of your game. That is the most important factor you keep in mind.
Batting in ODIs, England method versus others
Look we are a side have always done well in the shorter formats, so we didn’t necessarily need to change the way things work for us. It’s very similar to what works for a particular batsman and what doesn’t work for another. What works for one team doesn’t necessarily work for another. So yeah, I mean England plays a certain brand of cricket and so does Australia. India plays in a very different way, but anything is effective. No one technique is perfect in cricket and no one way of playing is perfect in any format. So you can win with your style of play as long as you are convinced about it and you believe in it. I think that’s the thing that matters the most. Different styles should not be copied, that’s what I feel personaly. From batsman to batsman and team to team, and bowler to bowler as well. If someone tries to bowl like Jasprit right now they’ll mess up their bowling – it’s very similar. We don’t want to hamper the balance of our team. Obviously the areas you need improvement you keep improving them on the sidelines and keep moving forward. But the core style of play of the team should always be there. We should know as batsmen, who is going to do what. If there is a factor of unpredictability then the team feels very unbalanced, and you know there’s not enough confidence around. We’re pretty happy with the way we play.
ODIs will bring batsmen more into the game, so good chance to make a statement and win the first-ever series here
Look we obviously want to win every series that we play. Thinking of records or doing something that hasn’t been done before is not something you think of before achieving it. It just adds extra pressure which is not needed. But yes, we took a lot of confidence from that last Test. As batsmen obviously, everyone is looking forward to stepping up. Forgetting the things that have happened in the Test series – improving on them, but not keeping them at the back of your head – and going out there an expressing ourselves. Obviously, the wickets are going to be much better than the Test series, because of the format and this pitch looks pretty balanced I would say for a good game of cricket. It’s basically down to you want to win every game and every series that you play, but to do that you need to go through a process. We just want to focus on those processes and if we end up winning the series, we’ll obviously be happy about it, but it’s too early to even speak about those things. You need to be at the top of your game throughout, especially against a side who is strong at home and they play a very good brand of ODI cricket here, they’re very expressive. It’ll be a tough competition
Never won in Durban, or series in SA. Winning here will be No.1, how big a motivation?
Again, it’s… I keep saying these things but we don’t really think about this. We don’t think about them at all. We don’t connect to these things. When you’re batting out there you don’t think that ‘If I get runs here we’ll win and become No.1.’ You just want to win. You want to do well in that moment you’re in. You need to focus on each moment that you’re a part of and make sure that you bring your best game forward. Especially because we’ll have to play that much better here, knowing that these conditions suit the home team.
Like the last Test how we believed in ourselves and ended up winning the Test. We have to carry the same belief throughout this series. That will be very important and it’s the responsibility of each and every individual in the team. The mood is quite upbeat in the change-room and everyone’s really looking forward to the game starting. And that’s a very good sign.
India support in Durban
It’s always a special feeling playing here. I’ve only played one ODI here before. I’ve not been part of the World T20 when the team played here but I hear things about that and that was a very special time. Durban has always been a very special venue for the Indian cricket team because of the support factor. And we always enjoy when we go to other countries and see so many people supporting us. We have huge support all around the world but this is very different even from that point of view. It’s very much like playing in India, even the weather how it was yesterday. The pitch how it looks, it’s pretty much something we are familiar with. I wouldn’t say this is exactly what we get back home, but it’s quite familiar. So yeah, we always enjoy playing in front of big crowds. You get to motivate yourself more. When you’re going through a phase which is not going your way, you can use that backing from the crowd as well to do something special. We’re looking forward to playing in front of a sell-out.
Captaincy in Tests vs ODIs
I think in ODI cricket you have to think more, at every moment. In Test cricket, the game has a pattern, it goes with a flow and a speed. So you can figure out in which session when the momentum shifts. But in ODI cricket it can be over to over. So you have to always stay ahead of the game. One advantage as a batsman is I can think like one and figure out what must be going through their minds. You have to be on top of the game and do things proactively first rather than later. You have to do all these things in ODIs and even more in T20 cricket. Although the effort is more, the timespan of the game is shorter. In Test cricket, you might not need as much effort throughout the day, but you have to do it for all five days. Even when you are not batting, you have to keep thinking where the match situation is and how we can play. So it’s very different, but I would say that in the shorter formats, you have to use your mind more every over.
U-19 World Cup
It feels amazing. I interacted with them before they left, it’s a lovely bunch of boys. They were very welcoming and very confident in speaking about the game as well. I was very happy to see that. Compared to our lot, the confidence levels are somewhere else which is a great sign. You’ll see many people making a strong statement for themselves much earlier than we all did. They’ve done amazingly well, the semifinal was an amazing game as well. Playing such a high-pressure game, they really stood up and that’s what you want to see. You want to see people standing up when it’s needed the most. I want to wish them all the very best for the final. We’ll all be following very keenly and we’ll be eagerly waiting to see them lift the Cup again. I believe they have the talent, and they believe in that much more than I do, which I think is very, very important.