Indian captain Virat Kohli on November 15 said that being the Number 1 side in Test cricket was important for the Indian cricket team regardless of the opposition. He also added that winning was the prime focus for the team. India is set to play three-match Test series against Sri Lanka starting November 16 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
While addressing the press conference ahead of the first Test, Virat Kohli said,
I feel every match that you play is important. Every series is important when you play for the country. We want to do well as a team.
Sri Lankans have never won a Test match in India. Both the teams have so far played 17 Test matches this year. While India have won 10, Sri Lanka drew 7 matches though are yet to score a win.
Earlier, Chandimal and Co were defeated 3-0 in Tests by India in their own backyard in July this year.
Virat Kohli said that the team’s key focus was to win and maintain consistency.
Whatever the conditions we play at, the combinations, winning is the important thing for us whether we play in India, away from home or regardless of the opposition we play. We want to maintain our consistency.
On being asked about resting the key players ahead of the series, Virat responded,
I think that hasn’t much explained properly. There is a lot of talks from the outside in terms of workload, whether they should be rested or they should not be rested… for example all cricketers play 40 games a year…three guys who should get rest their workloads are to be managed. 11 players play the game but not everyone would have batted 45 overs in an ODI game or not everyone could have bowled 30 overs in a Test match game. But the guys who are doing regularly are the ones that need to be addressed.
He added,
Because body takes that much time to recover and it needs rest as well. From the outside, it looks like why people are asking for rest. For people like (Cheteshwar) Pujara during the Test season, he’ll have maximum load because he spends so much of time in the middle because his game has built that way. All these factors should be taken into consideration.
When asked about whether he needed rest, Kohli replied,
Definitely, I would need rest. Why don’t I need a rest? When I think of the time when my body should be rested I’ll ask for the break. I am not a robot.
The first Test match is scheduled to start at 9:00 PM IST. The toss would take place at 8:30 PM.
