Cardiff: India will be casting a wary eye on Bangladesh in the second semi-final at the Edgbaston, given their chemistry as a team during the ICC Champions Trophy.
“They are among the top eight sides in the world, so obviously they are playing really good cricket and are doing a lot of things right to be in that position. As I said, they have cricketers who are skilled, committed and play with a lot of passion and they’re really keen to win a lot of games at this level — that shows in their attitude.”
Referring to Bangladesh’s performance against New Zealand, Kohli said: “The other day [against New Zealand], I thought they were outstanding the way they applied themselves and chased the total down and they showed a lot of composure and patience. That is a sign of a side that is mature now, who know how to win matches from difficult situations. They are a very competitive side.”
Kohli also knows that Bangladesh can lift their game in the big matches now, like they did in the 2015 World Cup against India. “It’s no surprise anymore to anyone that they are really well and they’ve really improved their cricket, and it’s a credit to their set-up and the kind of players they have now who are taking more responsibility. They are a very dangerous side on their day, and everyone realises that.
“You know, no one takes any opposition for granted and Bangladesh have taken huge strides. They themselves said that in the last couple years. In the World Cup 2015 they were really good. Credit goes to them for what they are doing with their cricket over the last couple of years.”
Kohli reminded that in today’s cricket, victory cannot be guaranteed against any team. “We have been in these kind of games before quite a few times, but there are no guarantees in this sport. As we’ve seen in the late stages as well, a lot of teams have surprised the opposition, and we’re certainly not taking anything for granted. We will use whatever momentum we’ve gained in this tournament to execute what we want to. We’re not going to go according to past results and what we’ve done in the past tournaments. Going into a big game like this, we’re going to treat it as how we treated the last game, and our mindset does not differ.”
To a query whether there would be any changes in the playing XI, he said: “I don’t see any good reason to change the eleven. The team played really well. It was a complete performance, and I certainly don’t think that there’s any need to change anything.”
Kohli also hailed Yuvraj Singh, who will play his 300th one-day match. “Yuvraj’s contribution to cricket has been outstanding. He’s been a total match-winner for India, won so many big tournaments in big cities, and this is just a testimony to the kind of talent he possesses. You obviously need to have all those things in place to be able to play 300 games for India and I congratulate him. I wish him all the very best, and hopefully he can play a lot more for us and get in those match-winning performances all over again. I hope tomorrow is a special one for him.”
Catch the match
Second semi-final
India vs Bangladesh
Edgbaston, Match starts at 1.30pm
Live telecast on OSN Sports HD Cricket.
