We are the team that everyone wants to beat, says Virat Kohli

London, September 2

India captain Virat Kohli says his relationship with head coach Ravi Shastri is based on mutual respect and trust, something that has helped them make this team the one that “everyone wants to beat”.

On the eve of the fourth Test against England at the Oval on Thursday, Kohli was joined by his teammates at the Taj hotel here for the launch ceremony of a new exclusive members’ club ‘The Chambers’.

“Our working relationship, and off the field as well, has been built on mutual respect and trust, on a vision that has been shared, which has been focused in one direction which is to take Indian cricket higher and in a better place than we found it,” said Kohli.

“That was always our aim and I think, along with the brilliance of the whole team, the talent that we have been blessed with, we have been able to achieve that.

“We stand as the team that everyone wants to beat anywhere we play in the world and that for us is a matter of immense pride,” he added.

The event was marked with a special ‘Rendezvous Series’ around the UK launch of Shastri’s debut as an author with ‘Stargazing: The Players In My Life’.

“It’s his first book and I hope he writes a few more because he has a lot more to share,” said Kohli.

During an interaction around his new book, Shastri was asked about the ongoing series, which stands at 1-1 right now, and he promised things are set to get “spicier” in the last two games.

“When you have a captain on the same page, it becomes pretty easy and most of my boys are on a similar page,” said Shastri.

“The idea was to take the game forward and play to win. We’re not here to fill in the numbers, we’re here to play cricket that is positive and play to win.

“It’s been one spicy series, that’s the way it should be, and I just think it’ll be spicier over the next couple of weeks,” he said. PTI