Virat Kohli Denies Rift With Anil Kumble, Says ‘People Making Up Issues’

Before India’s 15-man squad left to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy in England, the BCCI advertised that they were looking for a new coach for Team India after the legendary spinner’s one-year contract expires this month. I have vivid memories of his sublime century against us in the 2012 Asia Cup, while he was at his absolute best in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 clash at Adelaide, laying the foundation of an Indian win with a masterful hundred. Lot of people like to create rumours at the start of a tournament like Champions Trophy. His role in the Cricket Advisory Committee also means that he is going to have a say in what happens to the position that will be vacant after Kumble’s tenure ends.

The current cross-border tension between the South Asian neighbours also adds its distinct colour to the historical rivalry in which India have come up trumps more often than not in global competitions.

While India have gathered laurels over the past one decade, Pakistan have been plagued by player revolts, match-fixing controversies and lack of game time on home turf because of terror threats.

Speaking about the Indian bowling unit, Kohli said: “All bowlers bowled beautifully”.

“You’ve got to be able to take wickets”. All options are available. “It’s a good headache to have”.

In the warm up matches, the Indian bowling unit was successful with the ball and particularly in the match against Bangladesh, where they bowled out their opposition to only 84 runs.

“In shorter formats, no total is safe”. But Hardik coming into the equation as the all-rounder, you can only play four bowlers apart from him”, said the captain and went on to add, “So who to choose according to the conditions. we’ve just arrived so we haven’t even gotten a chance to look at the pitch the first time. Now I am focusing on the team. Of course, there are people who easily bet amounts like Rs10,000-20,000 on these, but when it is an India-Pakistan game, then the sky is the limit.

Speaking to the media, Kohli said: “There are no problems within the team and people are just making things up”. Now, it seems India is simply the better side man for man. The other player to watch out for is skipper Sarfraz because he is very intelligent.

It is said that the master blaster would be a part of Hindi commentary only.

“Any two batsmen can chase down any total”.

“It’s priceless to have his thoughts and views on different situations and things that he picks up are really minor”. Pakistan’s innings got off to a poor start with Indian seamers, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma, making things hard for the opposition. “I don’t feel, I have to do something extra to get something as captain”, said the skipper. That match was interrupted by rain, and saw only 54 overs being played.

While Pakistan hold a 2-1 lead over their fierce rivals and neighbours in the Champions Trophy, it is India who have won 10 out of the 11 contests at the World Cup and World T20 tournaments between the two sides. In the recent years, Virat Kohli has emerged as fan favourite for bets, while Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shoaib Malik also draw sizable bets.