Eyeing South Africa And England Tours, Virat Kohli Wants Sri Lanka to Make India Uncomfortable

Kohli said that playing in different conditions is challenging and India need to have a game which can be handy anywhere in the world.

New Delhi: India cricket team has had an easy time against different opponents at home in the last few months but now captain Virat Kohli wants to come out of the comfort zone and is hoping that Sri Lanka will be able to make life “uncomfortable” for his boys during the current tour starting Thursday.

Kohli said on Wednesday that playing in different conditions is challenging and India need to have a game which can be handy anywhere in the world. “If you can embrace playing in difficult conditions that will be the difference. We want to be uncomfortable, we want to embrace being uncomfortable and that’s the most important thing. We want to build our games in such a way that we want to look forward to playing anywhere in the world. We just want to play good cricket, that’s about it. We don’t want to wait for conditions to suit our games,” said Kohli on the eve of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Kolkata’s iconic Eden Gardens.

India are scheduled to tour South Africa after the Sri Lanka series. The tour begins December 30 with a practice match and includes three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is. Later in the year India tour England for three T20Is, three ODIs and five Tests.

Kohli is aware that India will face a tough time in South Africa and England but without mentioning the same he said that while his team has enjoyed a winning streak at home, to be a top side it should win in difficult conditions. “We want to rather develop our games for difficult conditions. If you want to be the top side in the world for a longer period of time you have to win everywhere. If we had played all this cricket away as well we would have maintained the same intensity and have the same mindset,” he said.

He added that maintaining the winning spree and being consistent are the key ingredients to maintain the top spot and his team will strive to achieve the same irrespective of the playing conditions.

While India have not lost a home series after the 2-3 defeat to South Africa in the five-match ODI series in October 2015, Sri Lanka are yet to win a Test in India. The island nation was mauled by India at home during the July-September tour losing all the three Tests, five ODIs and the lone T20I.