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Looking forward to travel and play difficult cricket - Virat Kohli Cricket
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Looking forward to travel and play difficult cricket - Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri were all pumped up before heading to Ireland and the United Kingdom tour where India will play 2 T20s against Ireland and 3 T20s, 3 ODIs and 5 Tests against England.## Virat Kohli who missed out Afghanistan's Test due to the neck injury was talking to the media in New Delhi on Friday, June 22 along with coach Shastri.## Kohli has been moved on from last England tour where he failed to make an impact and expecting from people to get over of it.## "I think a lot of people have held on to the last tour for too long. We've had the Champions Trophy as well which has totally been forgotten - I don't think that was in Bangladesh. I was asked this question when we reached England (what are you looking forward to?), and I said taking a walk and having coffee on the street. My thinking is very different when I go on a tour, I literally am looking forward to enjoying the country, am not even thinking of the cricket. I know if I'm in a good zone, I will play well. If I think like how people are thinking on the outside, then things don't happen.## Virat is excited to get back on the field after missing Afghanistan Test and looking forward to playing abroad.## "This is just another series for me individually, but for us as a team, this is a very exciting time. After what happened in South Africa, we're actually looking forward to playing more difficult Test cricket. That I feel is the best thing that can happen.## "You don't want to go to England saying, 'Oh the Test series in one month'. We want it to actually be sooner. That's the kind of excitement we take along with us. It's the same case with the ODIs and the T20s. It's just a great phase for Indian cricket."## When it comes to fitness, no one can match Virat Kohli even though he missed out a Test due to injury he is one of the fittest players of this generation.## "I'm 100% ready to go. The neck is fine now. I have had six to seven sessions in Mumbai. I have had a good practice. I am absolutely ready to go. Went through a fitness test as well so the body is feeling fine. I'm actually excited to get back on the field which is a very rare thing when you play so much cricket but I think these sort of breaks really help and mentally they make you fresh and excited to go back on the pitch again," Kohli said.## "In hindsight, I feel what has happened is the best for me. I wanted (to experience) the more difficult phase of those conditions. I wanted the wet and damp conditions where Puji [Cheteshwar Pujara], Ishant and Varun played in. But in hindsight, if I was 90% with my body and used to the conditions rather than 110% and fresh, I'd much rather be where I am today."## Coach Ravi Shastri also believes that fitness enhanced your ability to do well and play good cricket. He was talking about benefits of Yo-Yo test which has become mandatory for selection in the team.## "You have a certain ability, but if you're fit then that same ability gets enhanced. And that's why we emphasise on this yo-yo thing. And whoever thinks it's a one-off, he's sadly mistaken. He can take a walk. The philosophy is simple. You pass, you play. You fail, you sit. The captain leads from the front, the selectors are on the same page, the entire team management is on the same page and the boys have responded extremely well."## Virat said this time its ideal condition for us as we will get enough time before playing 5-match Test series, unlike last time where India play Test cricket before limited overs series.## "Preparation, it's ideal. You get to play ODIs, then T20s and by the time the Test starts, it's already a month. There's a lot of time to acclimatise. The plan is the same as that was in South Africa, against Sri Lanka, and what was there before. The strategy doesn't change. Mindset doesn't change if we don't perform in one series or another. Our focus is on cricket. We don't have to do anything different. We have to play with a match-winning mindset. It's not about individual players, it's about the team."## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.##

Spinners will be key as conditions are ideal for India to win in England - Anil Kumble Cricket
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Spinners will be key as conditions are ideal for India to win in England - Anil Kumble

Former Indian coach and the highest wicket-taker for India in Test, legendary Anil Kumble believes that this time India will have a great chance to win the Test series when they take on England for the 5-match series in England.## This will also be a chance for Virat & Co to assert their supremacy as the No.1-ranked side in the world as conditions will be ideal for India, feels Kumble.## "I feel we possess a good all-around unit. We have a strong bowling group which can pick 20 wickets consistently. If you look at the batting line-up, we possess a lot of experience.## "On an average, the number of Test matches played by our batsmen stands at about 50. Also, the experience of having toured there before will definitely help as they will be aware of the conditions," said Kumble, during an event on Thursday evening.## However, Kumble feels spinners will play a key role this time around. The wickets in the month of July and August will be more suitable for the spinners and that will help in India's chances this time.## "Spinners will definitely play a major role on this tour of England. In the second half of the summer, we do know that the wickets will be more suitable for them. There will be wear and tear on the wickets, and spinners will come into play much earlier than in the first half," Kumble said.## "Conditions in the first half - in the months of May and June - are more challenging in England (for spinners) because of the rain and dampness," he added.## Apart from England tour, Anil Kumble also backs BCCI's approach towards yo-yo test after it's been criticised in recent time as Mohammad Shami and Ambati Rayudu had been dropped from the Test and ODI squad after failing in this fitness test.## "I am sure every player would have been told that this is the benchmark. This is the test and this is the number you need to get or else you are not going to be there is what would have probably been communicated to them (by the board)," he said.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

Raina to replace Rayudu for England ODI series Cricket
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Raina to replace Rayudu for England ODI series

Suresh Raina is all set to make his ODI comeback as Ambati Rayudu has been out of the England tour for ODI series. Rayudu who initially named in ODI squad couldn't clear yo-yo fitness test, therefore, Raina named his replacement. ## BCCI confirmed on Saturday, June 16.## It is a necessity to clear yo-yo test for selection in the national squad. But unfortunately, Rayudu couldn't clear the basic 16.1 mark. ## He is the second player to be dropped from the team as recently, pacer Mohammad Shami had also been dropped from the Test squad.## On the other hand, Rayudu's replacement Raina has been picked in ODI team after more than 2 years. He last played an ODI match against South Africa in October 2015. With this selection Raina's world cup hopes are alive.## Raina was impressive in recently concluded Indian premier league where he had scored 445 runs with an average of 37 for Chennai Super Kings. He had also made his comeback in T20I against South Africa earlier this year.## It will be interesting to see whether he will be picked in playing XI with KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik and Shreyas Iyer are already in the squad and are keen to fix their middle order spot.## Revised ODI Squad: ## Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav ## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.##

Shami out of Afghanistan Test after failing in yo-yo test Cricket
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Shami out of Afghanistan Test after failing in yo-yo test

Mohammad Shami, 27-year old Bengal paceman, is all set to miss the historic Afghanistan Test after failed to prove his fitness at the NCA Bengaluru. Navdeep Saini named his replacement. The BCCI confirmed on Monday, July 11.## Mohammad Shami has been the vital part of Indian test side. Earlier this year, he had played all three matches against South Africa in Africa and ended up with 15 wickets. ## He was one of the main reasons in India's win in the 3rd test where Shami took 6-wickets in second innings.## This could be the huge blow for India and Shami personally if he doesn't get fit ahead of England series in July and Australia later this year as he expected to play the vital role in the overseas season.## Shami's replacement, 25-year old Navdeep Saini impressed in 2017-18 Ranji Trophy season where he picked 34 wickets in 8 matches he played for Delhi. He was also called up to bowl to Indian batsmen during South Africa tour.## Apart from Shami, Kerala's wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson who was picked in India A one-day squad for England tour also failed in this test. ## He will be replaced by Jharkhand's 19-year old Ishan Kishan.## Yo-yo test has become the necessity for selection in the Indian squad. Keep in mind, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, and Washington Sundar have also failed in this test last year. ## Later Raina and Sundar managed to clear this test ahead of South Africa's limited overs series while Yuvraj Singh missed out.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.