Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Sport

India will be tougher test for England than Australia - Kohli

Cricket - India Press Conference - Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - July 2, 2018 India's Virat Kohli during the press conference Action Images via Reuters/Ed Sykes

(Reuters) - India captain Virat Kohli feels his team will be a tougher prospect for England than Australia, promising they will play "fearless cricket" in their coming tour.

India will take on England in three Twenty20 internationals and three one-day internationals, with the hosts high on confidence after a 5-0 ODI series victory over Australia at home.

Kohli's team also play England in five test matches following the limited-overs leg.

Cricket - England Nets - Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - July 2, 2018 England's Sam Curran during nets Action Images via Reuters/Ed Sykes

"Playing against a good team in their conditions and at their home, to get the opportunity to be able to beat them in their home conditions, it is a point of excitement for us and not pressure," Kohli said at a news conference.

"When they came to India last time, we won the series and the trophy is with us, and now they are on home soil and they need to play well to win it back. We will play fearless cricket and literally we have nothing to lose."

Kohli, 29, added that the team would look to replicate the mindset that led to their success in the limited-overs leg on their tour of South Africa, after losing the test series 2-1.

Cricket - India Nets - Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - July 2, 2018 India's Kuldeep Yadav during nets Action Images via Reuters/Ed Sykes

"The takeaway from this tour obviously will be the way we play our cricket and the mindset and the attitude that we maintain for the length of the tour that we are here.

"No one can guarantee results, but just wanting to win every session and every ball that we play, if we can carry that on for the length of the tour, I will be really proud as a captain and we will be really proud of ourselves as a team."

Kohli also had one eye on next year's 50-over World Cup in England and Wales, with India keen to try different options in the middle order.

Cricket - England Nets - Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - July 2, 2018 England's Jason Roy during nets Action Images via Reuters/Ed Sykes

"Looking at the World Cup, we will try a lot of players in the shorter formats," Kohli said.

"The middle order in the ODIs has been something that we have been looking for, so we have a few things that we want to try out and address there as well."

(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; editing by Andrew Roche)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.