File image of Virat Kohli.
Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri addressed the media ahead of the team's departure to London for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup. India will play their first match of the tournament on June 5 against South Africa.
While Kohli insisted that India will go into the World Cup with great confidence, coach Ravi Shastri stated that the team can bring the World Cup home if it plays to full potential.
After much speculation, it was confirmed that Kedar Jadhav will be the part of the side at the World Cup, meaning that the side will travel with the same squad to England and Wales. This will be Virat Kohli's first World Cup as the captain of the side.
Here's the 15-member squad for India:
Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik
Highlights:
15:52 IST: Ravi Shastri: "This tournament is a great opportunity, our team has played great cricket for the past five years. We need to enjoy the World Cup, see it as just a stage, if we play to our potential then the Cup can be here."
15:49 IST: Ravi Shastri: "Our mantra will be to be flexible according to the conditions. The pitches might be flat but if overcast conditions change, there might be changes. Any other country, overcast conditions doesn't matter but in England it does. So, you have to be ready for that and be flexible."
15:47 IST: India's coach Ravi Shastri is now taking questions.
15:46 IST: Virat Kohli on the tournament's competitiveness: "Certainly the most challenging World Cup considering the format of the tournament, also if you look at all the teams, they are really close. Even someone like Afghanistan have made so much progress in 2015. Every game will have to play best to our potential, its a different challenge which everyone will have to adapt to."
15:46 IST: Virat Kohli on Kuldeep Yadav's form: "In hindsight, if you look at it, for someone like Kuldeep who has had so much success it is better, that it has happened in the IPL and not World Cup. So he can work on it and come back stronger. He along with Yuzvendra Chahal are the two pillars of the Indian bowling."
15:46 IST: Virat Kohli: "The only expectation is we have to play really good cricket and that's why the results have come over the last two-three years. We have a very balanced squad and you saw that in the IPL as well. Everyone is in really good form. So, that is the focus"
15:45 IST: Virat Kohli: "The team that stays most focussed and balanced will be the team that goes along the way, and we will aim to be that team."
15:44 IST: Virat Kohli: We go into the World Cup with great confidence, all players are doing well. Our only focus is on the process and giving our very best. That is the only expectation we have.
15:42 IST: Virat Kohli: "Handling pressure the most important thing in the World Cup, not the conditions."
15:41 IST: Captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri are here.
15.36 IST: Meanwhile, in England, the ECB has announced their final squad for the World Cup. Jofra Archer has been selected in the side, and Liam Dawson and James Vince also make their way into the 15-men squad for the side.
