Team India skipper Virat Kohli has won the toss and opted to field against England who have rested regular skipper Eoin Morgan.
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Team India skipper Virat Kohli has opted to field after winning the toss in the T20 World Cup 2021 warm-up match against England on Monday. Kohli expressed a desire to create some energy and momentum, for which opting to field seemed like the perfect decision. The cricketer was most recently seen in action in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Kohli believes that the involvement of Indian players in the recently concluded edition will certainly help in bringing them up to speed in terms of level and competitiveness.
“We will bowl first. The idea is to create some energy and momentum as a team. We have played in different teams recently (in the IPL). We have had success in the past. So we want to create that same energy, fielding is the best place to start I reckon when eleven guys are together. The IPL is right up there in terms of level and competitiveness, but this is paramount. Indian cricket is the priority for everyone. That has to be case. Adapatability is what matters. People play different roles in their IPL teams. It’s about adapting quickly to this team now, who plays where is what matters,” said Kohli as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“We are pretty sorted in terms of how we are going to start in the first game. Outside of that we just want to give opportunity to guys in these games as much as possible. We will look to give game-time to most of them. Things were different before IPL, now it’s difficult to look beyond KL Rahul at the top of the order. Rohit is a no-brainer. World-class player, he’s been solid up front. I will be batting at 3. That’s the only news I can give to start off,” he added.
Jos Buttler is leading England, in the absence of Eoin Morgan who is taking rest, having been involved with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) until recently.
“Everyone is excited. Good to get together. Obviously, he (Morgan) is having a rest after those weeks in the IPL. Gives others a chance of exposure. I’m sure India are going to come hard at us, there will be a lot of intensity. Some have come from the IPL for us while many are coming directly from back home. It’s about adapting to the team roles. Pushing for places is important, it’s something that’s driven us over the last many years. There is a lot of competitiveness and it really drives the guys. It’s been healthy for us,” stated Buttler.
Team India head coach Ravi Shastri believes that the main focus lies on ensuring proper flow of rhythm and getting the energy going.
“Boys have been playing IPL for the last 2 months, so I don’t think they need too much of preparation. It’s more about them getting together and adapting together. Get some rhythm going, some energy going. Everyone can bat, everyone can bowl (in this game), so it will help us to get an idea about who is doing how. Not really (regarding any locked strategy). We’ll just see how things go and work a combination around. We’ll just try to see how much dew is around and accordingly decide to bat/bowl first. Also helps us decide about playing an extra spinner or seamer,” he said.
