Bangalore: India is looking for a win in the last One-Day International (ODI) against Australia here Saturday to boost its confidence for the Test series against the West Indies, vice captain Virat Kohli said Friday.
"Though the focus right now is on winning the last game, we should be going into the India-West Indies Test series with confidence high," Kohli said.
Levelling the ODI series 2-2 at Nagpur Wednesday in style after two games were washed out in Ranchi (Oct 23) and Cuttack (Oct 26), the seventh and final game will be a cracker of a contest between the top two teams in the ICC rankings.
"We have to play good cricket to win. The wicket might be of any kind. As long as we play good cricket, we should be ending up on the right side," Kohli told reporters after a practice session at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium.
He admitted the ODI series had been competitive, as Australia was playing very good cricket.
"It will be challenging to switch to the Test format to which we have to adapt quickly," Kohli pointed out.
Asserting there were no fitness issues and all players were fit to play, Kohli said he was in favour of chasing to win than setting a target.
"I personally feel good to chase because you know the target to meet and can plan better. We can also analyse how to play in different situations. I feel good to calculate and play, which bowler to target and which ball to hit," Kohli said.
Noting that big partnerships were crucial in the shorter version of the game while batting first or second, Kohli said for a team to be in a strong position, its batsmen have to be in the middle for longer periods to build partnerships.
"Batting first, we need to assess the pitch conditions and big partnerships are important to score high, which will put us in a strong position to defend," Kohli, who scored two centuries in the series, noted.
On his outstanding form in the series, the vice-captain said technique played a major role in facing fast bowlers and playing big shots.
"Technique is the main thing when you take on fast bowlers bowling at 140-150 km speed. If you work out your technique, you can back yourself to hold your position and hit where you want to. I keep working on that in practice sessions. It gives me a lot of confidence in practicing on my technique," Kohil said.
