Nothing About Revenge: Virat Kohli Praises New Zealand Cricketers
Jan 24, 2020 at 1:16 AM
Virat Kohli-led Indian team is ready to begin their journey in the New Zealand tour. While they are preparing for their first international meeting since the semi-final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, the Indian captain has no desire to consider the upcoming matches as the revenge games.
On Friday (24th January), New Zealand and India will play the opening game of the five-match T20I series at Eden Park (Auckland). This Auckland T20I will be their first meeting after the first semi-final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. In that two-day-stretched rain-interrupted semi-final, the favourite Indian team fought remarkably till the end but suffered the heart-breaking 18-run defeat.
Ahead of the opening game of the new T20I series, Indian captain, Virat Kohli was asked whether they were watching this series as the revenge against the runners-up of ICC CWC 2019 or not. Kohli has totally denied watching this series as their revenge series and claimed that the New Zealand players are very nice. The Indian captain is also happy to see them in the final of CWC 2019.
Virat Kohli said, “Not really. Even if you want to think of revenge these guys are so nice that you cant get into that zone. It’s all about being competitive on the field. They are one side that has set the right example for teams to carry themselves on the international stage. We were actually happy for them when they qualified for World Cup finals. When you have lost you have to look at the larger picture. So nothing about revenge.”
We are not going to take them for granted: Virat Kohli is confident about India’s challenging cricket in this tour
However, Virat Kohli and his boys are not going to mercy the hosts New Zealand in this tour. Though Kohli has admitted their home advantage, he has also pointed out that the Indian players are also aware of this condition due to their past experiences. Kohli believes that they can play their best cricket in this New Zealand tour.
The Indian captain added, “You have to play good cricket to win. know what they bring to the table while playing at home. We are not going to take them for granted. They know their conditions well, they understand how the pitches play, the angles off the field. They will have a slight home advantage. But we have also played here a lot. So we definitely have to be at our best.”
Talking about their T20I records in New Zealand, India have lost both the T20I series in this country while they have won only one game in five T20Is against this host side.
After this five-match T20I series, India will play a three-match ODI series and two-match Test series against the hosts in this tour.