Mood is great: Virat Kohli ahead of semi-final clash with New Zealand at Old Trafford

Addressing a pre-match conference, Virat Kohli said that in the knockout stage of ICC World Cup 2019, “things are as simple or as complicated”.

Pic courtesy: ICC

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has said that the “mood is great” ahead of the semi-final encounter with New Zealand at Old Trafford in Manchester. Addressing a pre-match conference on Monday, Kohli said that in the knockout stage of ICC World Cup 2019, “things are as simple or as complicated”.

Pointing that all the teams had worked hard to get to the semi-finals, Kohli said that it was all about “whoever plays better on the day” of the match.

“The mood is great. Everyone is very relaxed, very confident. And look, all the teams worked hard to get to these moments and now whoever plays better on the day we know that things are as simple or as complicated as that. So, we are all looking forward to it,” said Kohli.

“It's been a long tournament, it's been a lot of hard work, a lot of intense games, so yeah, we are really, really happy that we have made it to the semis and now there's only opportunity that lies in front of us and everyone is very excited for it,” added the Indian skipper.

When asked about the bowling attack of both sides, Kohli said that the Indian bowlers “have shown a lot of character” in the tournament so far.

He said, “Our bowling attack has been up there with the best, if not the best bowling attack in the competition. I think the way we have bowled in low-scoring games, even coming back into the match when the guys have been hit, I think they have shown a lot of character.”

Kohli further said that the New Zealand bowling attack had been “very balanced”, with the pacers performing in a consistent manner.

According to the skipper, the Indian team needs to go into the match in a “very disciplined” manner.

“They are a team which has always been a very consistent team, so we know that against them we'll have to be very, very disciplined, at the same time we will have to play very correct cricket to score runs against them because they are bowling good lines and lengths and they know what they are doing,” he said.