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Kohli wants to see India a superpower in Test cricket

Virat Kohli shares his vision of seeing India a long term power in Test cricket

Virat Kohli is focused on making India a long term super power in Test cricket
Australian Cricketers Will Learn A Great Deal Playing Against Virat Kohli - Justin Langer

Melbourne, January 16: Virat Kohli said he wanted to see India become a super power in Test cricket and the current side respect the traditional format of the game. Kohli did not undermine the limited over formats either but said India cannot focus solely on the shorter versions and the success in them and hide away from Test cricket.

1. Kohli's vision

1. Kohli's vision

"I wouldn't say goal but I would rather speak of a vision, which is for India to be a superpower in Test cricket or a very, very strong side in Test cricket in the years to come. I think if Indian cricket respects Test cricket, and Indian players respect Test cricket, then Test cricket will stay at the top because of the fan base that we have all over the world," Kohli told Star Sports. "If we focus too much on shorter formats - yes, they're important - but if we solely focus and look at them as an escape or an excuse to not be in the kind of situations that Test cricket presents to you, then I think that will start being a mental problem with the cricketers coming up.

2. Keeping the Test tradition

2. Keeping the Test tradition

"As long as you're willing to wake up every morning for five days and do the hard yards and go do the dirty work - if you're willing to bat for two hours and not score a run for the team - I think that is what people should prepare [for]. And that will require the team to lay out a certain things that needs to be done and for the next lot to keep following. So the next lot that comes in, they have to maintain that vision and then the people coming in will follow. I hope that continues and I will try my level best for as long as I can to keep that culture going."

3. On Shastri's influence on him

3. On Shastri's influence on him

"Ever since 2014, I think he's (Ravi Shastri) one person who's given me honest feedback whenever things required to be altered. I remember we sat down after I'd scored a Test century and a fifty in the same game in England, so he called me and he said, as far as batting is concerned, I'm not going to discuss anything with you now because you've done some something which I am proud of and everyone is proud of. But as a captain, we need to start thinking how to get the best out of this team and how to be tactically spot on. That really hit me because I felt like, you know, there's so much more to captaincy than you sometimes think. Just to be able to get feedback from a person who makes you feel like the small contributions are much bigger in the scheme of things than you going out there and scoring runs for yourself. It's about how you speak to the players, how you motivate the team. How you take decisions in crunch situations, how you're aware where the game is heading."

4. On Shastri's influence on team

4. On Shastri's influence on team

"Because he's done so much commentary and he's seen the game so much and has played so much himself, he knows where the game is heading," Kohli said. He's someone who has never tried to change me just to be able to fit into the captaincy mode. He's been the most amazing support for the team and someone who's backed the team through and through. I think he's struck the perfect balance for this team. He's the one person who was there when we were No. 7 [in the rankings] in 2014. He was there and you know the transition started under him. And we started feeding off that mindset and started bringing that in, which I could eventually go out there and boost more on the field. But I think it was his vision for us to be fearless and play a certain kind of cricket, which I think he deserves a lot of credit for."

Story first published: Wednesday, January 16, 2019, 15:34 [IST]
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