‘Bumrah crucial; India will fight for self-respect’
BRISBANE: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday said his team has never been the one to start “anything” but will stand up for itself if the line is crossed by the opposition, while defining aggression ahead of the muchanticipated Australia tour’s opening game.
Speaking ahead of the first T20 International of the three-match series here at the Gabba on Wednesday, Kohli said India will react to sledging only if a ‘line is crossed’ by the opposition. The skipper also had words of praise of pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, whom he said have been crucial to India’s ascension in limited-over cricket.
“Aggression depends on how the situation is on field. If the opposition is aggressive towards you then you counter it. India is not a team that starts anything but we always draw a line of self-respect. If that line is crossed we stand up to that,” Kohli said.
“Aggression also means that within team how possessive you are to that situation and as a team how much effort you are putting in for each wicket. You can see that in body language, when bowlers bowl and how long they can keep hitting the same area. Batsmen can be aggressive without saying anything.”
THINKING BOWLERS
Speaking of the pace duo of Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar, Kohli outlined that the pair will play as many games as possible before the 2019 ODI World Cup. “They are thinking bowlers, understand the situation and get a gut feel of what the batsmen are looking to do before bowling. And the ability to predict what is going to happen on each ball is what keeps them ahead of the batsmen most of the times. “Sometimes they will get dominated like everyone does but I think 85-90 per cent of the time they are spot on because they are always looking how the game is going, how the batsmen are batting, what areas they are hitting at. That’s been their strength.”
He said he has been “lucky” to have them both at his disposal. “Any captain would love to have them both in their attack and I have been lucky to have them both bowling so well for the team, giving those breakthroughs.”