Not working hard not an option in Indian team, says Virat Kohli

Young players like Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant and even Mayank Agarwal have found a place in India’s Test setup, whereas Shubman Gill had recently made his debut in the ODI series against New Zealand. Add to that, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar coupled with the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, the Indian team is relatively young. In today’s scenario, the game also demands high levels of fitness and Virat Kohli has himself set the highest standards. The skipper gave some insights about the team culture.

“I think what we're focused on is not literally telling the guys: 'OK, when the crunch situation arrives, you need to show us who you are'. That's not the culture we've tried to imbibe. I always felt that as a high performance, international sporting team, and, in the most anticipated or most played or popular sport in our country for years, we have to - in terms of professionalism - set the right example. You may have different personalities or characters and all of that needs to be respected. The only thing is 'not working hard' is not an option. The game has changed so much,” he said in an interview, reported Cricbuzz.

The skipper had made his debut at an age of 19 in 2008. He got starts in his debut series in Sri Lanka but failed to convert it to big scores and was eventually dropped from the side. He, however, has been a regular since the end of 2009 and even featured in the victorious 2011 World Cup. The Delhi batsman went on to make his Test debut in 2011 but could only manage 202 runs in nine innings. He has transformed his batting and fitness as well since then, as pointed out by him.

“That's the year (2012) when the transition began. It began more with the idea of inculcating a stricter sense of discipline and need for fitness. When I started my own transition in fitness, the simple realisation was that if I don't keep up with the demands of the game, I'm going to be an average cricketer. People will remember me as someone who did well for three or four years and then, kind of, was one among the many. I knew that I had to change everything about my life, about myself, to be able to be at the top of my game, to be in sync where the world (of sport) is heading,” expressed the 2008 U-19 World Cup winner.

Kohli took over the mantle of the captaincy of the Indian team from MS Dhoni in 2013. Under his leadership, India won 49 out of 68 one dayers and 26 out of 46 games in the longest format, while ten games ended in a draw. India even won a historic Test series in Australia and have been the number two and number one ranked ODI and Test side respectively, for a while now. The 30-year-old feels that going with the players who are willing to work hard has worked in the team’s favour.

“If we did not do that, as a group, India would not have been dominating in world cricket. So, we recognised pretty early that you need people who are willing to work hard on a daily basis, not just physically but mentally as well,” asserted Kohli.

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