ICC World Cup 2019: Captain And Coach Address Media Before Leaving For UK

Hyderabad: Before leaving for the United Kingdom for the ICC Men's World Cup 2019, team India captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri on Tuesday addressed the media and held a pre-departure press conference at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai.

Speaking on the World Cup, Kohli said that the only expectation from the game is that the team has to play good cricket and the team is very balanced and confident, adding that the players have been in great form in the recently concluded IPL.

The World Cup 2019 will be played in the round-robin format. This implies that the team plays each of the other teams during the league stage and the top four would advance to the knockouts.

Skipper Kohli said that the 2019 World Cup will be the most challenging because of the format and the team has to adapt to it. He hailed India's spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal by terming them the pillars of India's bowling department.

Team India head coach Ravi Shastri said that if the team plays to their abilities, the World Cup will be won by India and added that the team needs to be flexible irrespective of the pitches.

Shastri said that the team needs to maintain intensity. He asked the big football teams maintain intensity for three-four months, then why can’t the Indian cricket team?

Speaking about former captain MS Dhoni and his role in the World Cup, Shastri said that he has a massive role to play. He said that given the format there is no one better than Dhoni especially in those little moments which can change be the game-changer.

The head coach said that the most important thing in the world cup is handling pressure and not necessarily the conditions.

Also Read: ICC World Cup 2019: Schedule, Teams, Squads, Past Winners, Fixtures, Commentators