Jos has prize on his head

from an opening berth. “We expect England to come hard at us but we certainly want to play positive and hard-fought cricket, so it’s going to be an exciting series,” said Kohli.

“We believe we have the side to put up a great fight. And if we win crucial moments, anything can happen. In T20 cricket, you don’t have second chances but we are pretty confident.”

India present a much stiffer test than a weakened Australia. Fresh from a dominant 2-0 win over Ireland, Kohli’s side will have been delighted to see Old Trafford baked in sunshine.

After Moeen Ali picked up four wickets in the final ODI against Australia here nine days ago, the fact Manchester has had no rain since will have spin options Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav rubbing their hands with glee.

Kohli had been due to play county cricket with Surrey in order to

acclimatise to English conditions but sustained a neck injury in the IPL. Yet looking out at the sunshine yesterday he admitted the stint might have been of limited value. Kohli’s skill with the bat is in no question, even if there remains a slight doubt about his ability in red-ball cricket here, with an average of 13.40 compared to his overall average of 53.40. But his white-ball figures stack up well, averaging 35 in T20s and 52.46 in ODIs in England. Kohli certainly feels he has little to prove. “Even when we came here for the Champions Trophy that was the first question that was asked and my reply was I am just looking forward to having a good time,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whether I get runs or don’t, what I want is the team to play well and to win. “You want to perform as an individual but I haven’t set any benchmarks or targets and come here to do certain things. I just want the team to play good cricket here and I want to be able to lead from the front.”

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