Picture Credit: Twitter/@BCCI
Prior to the five-match Test series against England, captain Virat Kohli has said that although winning in England requires tremendous amount of madness and pursuit of excellence, it means nothing to him personally. He added that it holds the same amount of value to him as winning a Test series anywhere else in the world. It was back in 2007 when India last won a Test series in England under the leadership of Rahul Dravid.
Kohli made these revelations in an interaction with Dinesh Karthik for a broadcast network. While Karthik asked Kohli what it takes to win a Test series in England and what it means to him to win a Test series in England, Kohli's response has given a sneak peak into his mindset.
"It takes relentless madness and pursuit of excellence everyday over a five Test series. To tell yourselves I want to do the hard work and I want to get into situations which are tough in every Test match on every day," he said.
"For me personally, it means nothing more than winning a Test match or a Test series anywhere else in the world. As I said for me, these things are not anecdotes or milestones in my career. We step on to the field and we compete in every Test match," he added.
Mayank Agarwal likely to be ruled out of opening Test match
Meanwhile, the Indian team in England has been handed a massive blow ahead of the series opener on August 4 as Mayank Agarwal suffered a nasty blow on his head during a practice session. Other opener Shubman Gill has already been ruled out of the Test series and with Prithvi Shaw still a few days away from joining the team, it could be a toss up between KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran to fill the opener's spot along with Rohit Sharma.
After the conclusion of the five-match Test series, the players will fly to the United Arab Emirates for the Indian Premier League. Post that, the members of the Indian contingent will assemble before they head into the T20 World Cup.