Australia defeated, triumphant Virat Kohli fires loud warning shot at New Zealand

A series win against a strong Australia and performance in New Zealand last year gives India a lot of confidence ahead of a fresh tour beginning on January 24, said skipper Virat Kohli whose team will be aiming to put Black Caps under pressure from word go.   

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India's grueling tour of New Zealand

India will be playing five T20s, three ODIs and two Tests in New Zealand. y had beaten hosts 4-1 in ODIs before losing T20 series 1-2.  

"We are taking a lot of confidence from our performance (in NZ) last year. We were very positive in how we played, very sure of what we wanted to do. thing about playing away is if you're able to put home team under pressure, you can enjoy your cricket," Kohli said on Sunday night here after seven-wicket win over Australia in series-deciding third ODI.

"You have to win at home, re's that sort of feeling (for hosts). So if you bring out your A-game, you can really put m under pressure. That's what we did last year, squeezed m in middle overs, picked up wickets, spinners were outstanding. Looking forward to take that same intensity into series."
 

Ahead of New Zealand tour, Kohli said it became even more important to win home series against Australia here on Sunday. team leaves for New Zealand on Monday night."We spoke of that at huddle, that this is last game we're playing in series and if we win, you go on a tour on a happy te. If you lose, it can go under radar, you can brush it aside as 'oh it's just one loss'. "But when you win and win under pressure, last two games were tough wins, it boosts your confidence which we're carrying forward," he said.

On limited-overs leg of New Zealand tour, Kohli picked out areas of improvement."Again, we want to bat well when we bat first and in case we're defending a low total, we should be able to do that as well. We can't afford to ease into series after two games, because n it keeps getting tougher and tougher, so we'll look to make a mark in first game that we play," he said. Kohli did t win a toss in Australia series but his team took that out of equation by adapting to situations.   

"We spoke after World Cup way we exited, you can't always look for a situation that should go your way at toss. If we like chasing as a team, it doesn't mean we press panic button if we lose toss, we've to stay composed eugh to put in strong performances. "We've literally taken toss out of context, and we're as prepared as possible to do something opposition asks us to do," he said."That's been difference, even if we lose toss, we have belief that we can play expressive cricket to get results our way. last six or eight months have been a revelation and younger guys stepping up is a very good sign for Indian cricket."

skipper loves playing against Australia as it brings best out of him. He explained why he relishes Australian challenge."Last year (at home) after 2-0 up, we thought we're definitely going to win one of three at home, but y showed us that y understand se conditions very well w (to win 3-2), having played here a lot in IPL and so many tours over years," Kohli said."So, although y had a stronger side (with Steve Smith and David Warner back) than last time, we thought if we play good eugh, we can beat this team. only thing we needed to be wary of was our body langu and intent because that's Australia's strongest point.

"All teams in world are skilled but se guys play with intent of making things happen every over you play against m. So you can't take your foot off pedal at all, that's what we've done in last two games. partnerships that I mentioned today, even singles were taken with intent," said Kohli. India raced to victory in series-deciding third ODI against Australia, courtesy fine kcks from Kohli himself and Rohit Sharma. y both could t stay till end but finishing touches were provided by Shreyas Iyer, who remained unbeaten on 44.  And skipper was all praise for Iyer.

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Kohli heaps praise on Shreyas Iyer

"I don't think he's (Iyer) going to have any issues anymore because he really went after ir best bowlers and got results. It took pressure off of me as well t having to take risks and or guy striking at 140-145. I think it was really smart how we went about it," Kohli added. 

(Im Courtesy: AP)