ICC World Cup 2019, India vs Pakistan: Virat Kohli refuses to be swept up by hype over clash
Hindustan TimesAt one point in the Virat Kohli press conference, a TV journalist wanted to know if Sunday’s match in Manchester was less a game between India and Pakistan and more a contest between the Indian captain and fast bowler Mohammad Amir. India's captain Virat Kohli gestures during a training session ahead of their Cricket World Cup match against Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, Saturday, June 15, 2019 “I do not want to say anything for your TRPs and neither do I want to create exciting news,” Kohli said in Hindi. There are 10 other players on both sides and they have a much bigger role to play than individuals.” On the eve of the India-Pakistan match, Kohli was asked this question in several different ways, just as he was asked how he and his team had prepared to tackle the unpredictability factor of Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side, who started this tournament with a capitulation against the West Indies and in the very next game out-hit this World Cup’s biggest hitting team, England. In two different languages and on five separate occasions he said: “We are not focused on them or what they bring to the table, we are only focused on what we can do as a team.” Pakistan’s Champions Trophy win of 2017 remained something of a theme in both press conferences on Saturday, possibly because it was Pakistan’s most significant win over India in one-day cricket in the last decade. But precisely because it is an India-Pakistan match at a World Cup, there is little drumming up needed to fill the stands of Old Trafford, or seat families in front of their television sets back home in India; and Pakistan’s coach, Mickey Arthur, addressed just this when it was his turn to sit behind the microphones.