Virat Kohli is too good a player and we don't have any plans against him, admits Zimbabwe captain Ervine

Melbourne, November 4: Virat Kohli is so far the highest run-getter of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and he has carried the India batting on his shoulders making three fifties in four matches.

Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine acknowledged the toughness of stopping someone like Kohli and said pre-conceived plans may not work against him.

Excerpts:

Q. Virat Kohli is in tremendous form; have you any special plans to stop him?

Craig Ervine: “I don't think we have any plans against Virat. I think he's just too good a player. But look, I think a lot of the guys you can dissect so many different theories, and at the end of the day, if you come out and hit a good area, use your change-ups, all those sort of things, I don't think that special plans really work for these guys because they're so good at adapting to different conditions and different situations.”

Q. Your bowlers are ready to bowl against the likes of Virat Kohli, who's in great form, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma; the entire batting line-up is full of batting superstars. Your bowling will be up against a tough batting side. Are you ready for it?

Craig Ervine: “Yeah, definitely. This is a great opportunity to bowl against some of the best guys in the world, so there's no reason why guys would not want to actually get out there and produce the goods.

“How often do you get the opportunity to put Virat Kohli in your pocket? I'm pretty sure that our fast bowlers will be raring to go come tomorrow.”

Q. You created an upset against Pakistan; do you still believe you can create an upset against India and spoil India's party for going to the semifinal?

Craig Ervine: “I think obviously with the win against Pakistan, it's given us a huge amount of belief that we can beat any side in the tournament. I don't think that will change going into tomorrow's game.”

Q. You must have seen the India-Bangladesh game. Recently Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh in an ODI series. What were the lessons you learned from that game versus Bangladesh where they almost pulled off a win versus India?

Craig Ervine: “I think the World Cup has been really exciting because there's been a lot of close games. I think one thing that we've learnt is you're never out of it. If you can try and stay in the game and try and take it as deep as possible, you never know where it might take you.

There's obviously a lot of different pressures that are at play in various games, so especially just trying to take the game as deep as possible and letting the other side panic before you do.

Q. Apart from Sydney and Adelaide, the remaining grounds that we've seen in the World Cup so far, especially Perth and Melbourne, have assisted some type of fast bowling. Do you think you'd be happier playing India in a venue like Melbourne where it's assisting fast bowlers because that gives you a better chance to beat them rather than a flat batting track like Sydney or Adelaide?

Craig Ervine: “I don't think we're worrying too much about conditions. Obviously, we know here the grounds are pretty big. We also played a warmup game here against Sri Lanka I think before the tournament actually started, but I'm sure the wicket will be slightly different to what that was because we're obviously playing I think in the evening tomorrow.

“I think we're just looking at what we do really well and concentrating on our strengths and not looking too much at the opposition.”