Sydney: Virat Kohli says his teammates will determine the success or otherwise of his captaincy when he takes charge of India in place of Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the first Test against Australia next month.
The 26-year-old batsman will make his Test captaincy bow in Brisbane on December 4 while Dhoni sits out the first of the four matches in the series to recuperate from a hand injury.
“I’m pretty confident of the ability the guys have,” he told reporters on Sunday in Adelaide, where India open their tour with a two-day match against a Prime Minister’s XI starting on Monday.
“It’s up to me how I handle them, how I handle different situations.
“As long as the team backs me and puts in the performances we want, I think I’m going to look good at the end of the day.
“I don’t see any issues on why I can’t be up to the challenge.”
Kohli was very much the Test rookie alongside the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman on India’s last tour of Australia in 2011-12.
He ended up being one of the few bright lights for the tourists as they slumped to a humiliating 4-0 sweep, however, and scored his maiden century in the fourth Test in Adelaide.
Unlike many of his team mates, Kohli has the experience of playing on the hard Australian decks and in front of the vocally hostile crowds.
In 2012, he was fined half of his match fee in the second Test in Sydney for responding to barracking from the crowd by making on offensive gesture.
After his Adelaide century he said his innings was a fitting riposte to ‘drunken’ Australian fans who had heckled him from the stands throughout the series.
“I’m certainly expecting it again,” Kohli said. “I loved it. Once you perform in those conditions, the people love you here and they love a good fight.
“We’re here to play aggressive cricket, play the brand of cricket that Australia plays.” After the Brisbane Test, India play matches in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney before beginning preparations for their defence of the 50-over world title.
Meanwhile, Michael Clarke’s Sydney cricket club is being probed for declaring at 17-0 during a local game on Sunday and claiming it was to boost the injured Australian captain’s chances of batting time before the first test against India next month.
Clarke is racing to be fit for the December 4 opener in Brisbane, having re-injured his hamstring in a one-day international against South Africa in Perth just over a week ago.
His club Western Suburbs were sent in to bat against Parramatta after losing the toss, but declared after a few overs, with captain Jeff Cook saying it was to give Clarke the best chance to bat the following Saturday.
