Virat Kohli calls MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh 'strong pillars of the team'

Team India skipper Virat Kohli has stressed the importance of the veterans MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh‘s presence in the team ahead of the 2017 edition of the Champions Trophy. Team India will enter the tournament as defending champions and most of their players up with their game with the Indian Premier League, closely preceding the tournament.

Both veterans do not just have the responsibility of playing their parts but are also expected to guide the younger players in the team having seen the best and the worst in their careers. The Indian skipper termed them (Dhoni and Yuvraj) as the strongest pillars of the Indian team as they leave for England to defend their title.

Dhoni and Yuvi need freedom to bat

Further, on being asked about how he was going to handle the two senior pros’ in the team, he replied “Given the amount of experience they have I may not be the right person to explain you about how to use. One thing I know for sure is that if they are given enough freedom in the middle order they will be able to perform well.”

“It was really good to see them playing freely and without burden in the last tournament and enjoying each other’s company. Team’s confidence grows manifolds when two of your senior players play that way,” Virat said referring to the way the duo played against England in the concluded ODI home series.

“They (MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh) are strongest pillars of our team. They have been doing it for the team for quite some time,” he added.

Virat Kohli’s team wants to focus just on enjoying their game and keep the winning mindset going. “Our mindset has been to go out their and enjoy cricket which we have done in the past couple of years. In Test cricket we have been able to do that and we reached at the top with that mind set with the hunger to win. And we would love to carry it across all formats.”

Kohli believed that the tournament has to be the toughest of the year, with eight teams fighting for the title. He, further suggested that every team must be at the top of their game due to the competitiveness of the tournament.

“Competitiveness of the tournament is much higher as only top eight teams are participating so you have to be ready from the word go. You will have to be on the top of your game in the champions trophy and it’s going to very competitive,” the 28-year-old added.

Team India will be departing for London midnight tonight as the Champions Trophy is set to start on June 1. India will be playing two warm up games to prepare themselves. Up first, they will face the stern test of arch-rivals Pakistan on June 1 before playing against South Africa and Sri Lanka later in the tournament.