Am aware of what to expect from a head coach: Virat Kohli reacts to Sourav Ganguly's comments

In August 2015, the then India’s new Test captain Virat Kohli and Team Director Ravi Shastri embarked on a journey together with the belief that India can win in any condition, home and away.

On Wednesday, the same pair, with Kohli as a matured captain and Shastri returning to the Indian dressing room after a 16-month break as the head coach start on a journey that will see India play in some tough overseas tours over the next couple of years, culminating with the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England.

Since that tour of Sri Lanka, which India bounced back from one down to win 2-1, India have played 24 Tests, 17 of them at home. They won no less than 17 Tests and lost only two, drawing the other five. Out of these 24 Tests, 17 have been with Anil Kumble as the head coach, winning 12 and losing only one. India also regained their No. 1 Test rank under Kumble last season.

Yet, there was no mention of Kumble, who exited as head coach in an unpleasant manner after the ICC Champions Trophy last month, by Kohli, nor was the former leg-spinner’s contribution as the chief coach acknowledged by the India captain. Kohli had said in the West Indies that he had all the respect for Kumble as a cricketer, but not a mention of him as a coach.

Kohli maintained the same status on Tuesday.

Before announcing the name of Kumble’s successor early last week, the Cricket Advisory Committee member and former captain Sourav Ganguly said at a press conference that Kohli needed to understand how a coach operates.

‘AWARE OF WHAT IS EXPECTED’

Kohli seemed to be very well aware of how a coach operates, and hinted that he may not have needed Ganguly to tell him the same.

“We (him and the support staff) have worked three years together – 2014, 2015 and 2016. So, the understanding should already be there. I don’t think I need to understand anything new in this scenario. We are aware of what is expected and what is going to be on the plate. We have worked together before, so I don’t think we will take time to understand,” Kohli, bespectacled and sitting more assuredly with his favourite head coach Ravi Shastri next to him, said in Mumbai prior the team’s departure to Sri Lanka for three Tests, five ODIs and a T20I.

Now that the 28-year-old from Delhi has the support staff of his liking, does that put him or the team under any pressure to deliver the desired result, lest he will be under fire?

NO ADDED PRESSURE

As confident as ever, Kohli replied: “I don’t think there is any added pressure because what has to happen will happen, regardless of what happens around on the outside world. As a team, we aspire to achieve what we want to achieve. Everyone has faced hardships in the past. Criticism and being criticised is nothing new. We understand that aspect of playing the sport as well.

“I certainly don’t take the added pressure because the responsibility has been given to me. I only started off as a player and want to do the best for the team and continue to take up the responsibility and will continue to do so in the future years, till the time I am the captain or kept at this position.

“You only have to look at the series you are going to play ahead of you. It is very similar to you going out to bat and thinking ‘what if I get out’. It can happen in any scenario and move forward.”

Looking back nearly 24 months ago, Kohli said that the Lanka series was a “landmark tour”.

“If you look at the average age of that team a couple of years back, obviously the players have matured from then on, it’s been 24 months. But, that tour for us was a sort of start of the belief system that we can win away from home and we do have the side required to win away from home.

“We do have the culture that’s been created in the team to win whatever Test matches or Test series that we play. The mindset immediately was to try and win the series.

“Losing the first Test (in Galle) was a shock to us, but the way we bounced back was only because of the team culture that was created at that stage where even the less experienced players, if you compared us with Sri Lanka, comparison of the number of Tests was not even close. We showed more belief in our abilities and that we could win from any situation and that really turned our mindset around. From then on, you can see the results that we have had so far. We have away series coming up and same mindset would apply now what we started way back in 2015.”

FOLLOW RULES OF LIFE IN CRICKET

Kohli stressed on “understanding and communication” as the key factors in a healthy relationship between the players and the support staff. “Understanding and communication are some things that work in every walk of life. The changing room environment is nothing different. You need to have all those aspects for any relationship to work in life and it not just confined to cricket.

“We follow the same rules of life that are followed everywhere else. I don’t see anything different that can be elaborated about this. Everyone has gone through experience of relationships, somewhere or the other in their lives and the same rules applies here. It is as simple as that,” Kohli said.

Kohli did not give any room to be drawn into anything controversial regarding the appointment of the head coach and the support staff. “I only have the bat in hand. My job is to go out there on the field and control what is being done on the field. That is something that I have focussed on in the past couple of months and I continue to do so.

“A lot of speculations and lot of things fly around and those things are not in my control. As I said, my job is to go out there on the field and try to bring the best out of this team along with the management and try to perform to the best of my abilities, which I believe in.”