On the eve of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India’s T20I captain Virat Kohli attended a press conference. In the conference, he spoke on how delighted he is to have MS Dhoni back in the dressing room as a mentor and how good it feels to have veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin back in the team. Kohli also spoke on Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s (Bhuvi) form in UAE citing that he is not concerned regarding that as Bhuvi is a top-notch bowler. The captain also highlighted how difficult it was for him to keep his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate Yuzvendra Chahal out from the team despite his impressive form in the recently-concluded second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Not concerned for Bhuvi
“Not concerned about Bhuvi. His economy is top-notch. The game we played against Hyderabad where he bowled the last over against AB De Villiers. To close out against some of the most destructive batsmen in the world. His experience is very valuable for us and his back to full fitness. His experience is priceless,” the skipper said.
Dhoni will boost India’s morale
"He makes a difference when he is in a leadership role in any team. Absolutely delighted to have him in the environment. He will certainly boost the morale of this team further," the 32-year-old said.
"Such practical inputs and such intricate details of where the game is going and where we can improve,"
"He has always been a mentor for all of us, when we were starting our careers at that time he played and now he has the same opportunity to continue the same again. Especially for the younger guys who are in early stages of their career, just experience that he has gained over the years and having conversations with him about the game,” he added.
Happy to have Ashwin back
The captain was happy to have Ashwin back in the side. He lauded Ashwin's bowling in second leg of IPL as he said, “The one thing Ashwin has really improved is bowling with a lot of courage. He is not shy to put the ball in the right areas against batsmen like Polly, lengths at which the bowlers can be hit. Ashwin has been rewarded for reviving his white ball bowling. Ash and Jadeja have been performing really well which augurs really well for us as a team to see these finger spinners back.”
Leaving Chahal out was a tough decision
It was tough to omit Chahal from the squad especially after an incredible run in the second leg of IPL where he bowled with an outstanding economy rate and picked up key wickets.
"It was difficult and challenging call. We decided to back Rahul Chahar for a reason, he is a guy who bowls with pace. Bowled well in Sri Lanka and in England also he was good. The wickets in UAE will be slow and the guys who bowl with some pace, attacks with stumps and that is the factor that tipped the balance in favour of Rahul,” Kohli explained.
