Virat Kohli urges India to carry the momentum against Sri Lanka

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has urged India to produce an encore of their Pakistan demolition when they face Sri Lanka in their next match of the tournament on Thursday. The Indian cricket team made an incredible start to their CT2017 campaign as the defending champions crushed arch-rivals Pakistan by 124 runs via D/L method in their opening round fixture at Birmingham.

India piled up 319 for three in 48 overs in the rain-hit encounter while dismissing Pakistan for 164 as they failed to chase down the rain-reduced target of 289. However, Kohli is very much aware that the momentum can change quickly in one-day competitions, especially against a desperate Sri Lanka team looking to bounce back from their defeat to the Proteas in their opener.

But Kohli believes that the win against their arch-rivals have fuelled their team morale and a similar performance can secure the Men in Blue another victory in the tournament. Indian batsmen put up an impeccable show in their opening fixture with each the top 4 scoring over 50 runs. Thus, a repeat of that batting blitz against the Lankans at The Oval would put India on course for the semi-finals.

Speaking about the penultimate preparations, Kohli was quoted as saying, “Every game in this tournament is big, but we have a side with a few youngsters coming in and gradually getting towards strengthening their careers for India.”

“So I think from that, from the team’s point of view, it’s a massive win for us. Just the way we played and the confidence we showed throughout the game was something that was very pleasing to see as a captain.

“Even though we lost the toss, guys were raring and ready to go, willing to take up the pressure. That gave all of us the confidence to start striking the ball well, but initially, the openers gave us a good start as well.

“As I said, it’s a clinical performance from us, from the team’s point of view, yes, it is indeed a very big win.”

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, lost to South Africa by 96 runs and cannot afford a loss if they have to avoid elimination. Also, adding to their woes, Sri Lanka were found guilty of a slow over-rate offense by the ICC, with their stand-in captain Upul Tharanga banned for their next two matches, and players fined. Angelo Mathews will step in to resume captaincy duties after returning to fitness from the calf muscle injury that ruled him out of the South Africa match.