Virat Kohli warned against complacency ahead of Team India’s departure for the 2019 Cricket World Cup which starts in England from May 30. India face a tough start to the tournament – their first 4 matches are against South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan. Virat Kohli has urged his men to be normal but insisted they must maintain their intensity throughout the tournament. The format for the 2019 World Cup is new to every player – it goes back to the 1992 format where each team played each other once before the knockouts. Virat Kohli admitted this would be the most challenging of all his 3 World Cups so far because of the format. Each team plays 9 league games before the semifinals get underway. Kohli, the best batsman in the world, said his players will have no choice but to be match-ready on June 5 for their campaign opener against South Africa. “We have 4 games straight up. We have no room for complacency and that’s why it’s the World Cup. You have to arrive on the first day match-ready and that is the challenge. “All the top football clubs in the world maintain their intensity right from day one for 3-4 months, be it the Premier League or the La Liga,” Kohli told the media hours before the team’s departure for England. Virat Kohli, who was part of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning side and the 2015 side which reached the World Cup semifinals in Australia, said he was happy with the balance of his side and expected his players to play good cricket after successful stints in the Indian Premier League. “The only expectation we have is to play really good cricket and that has been our focus. We are going to the World Cup feeling very well balanced. We expect ourselves to play the best cricket we can,” Kohli said. India will reach England a full 2 weeks before their first match on June 5 and Virat Kohli said it was important to get to the venue early so that the nerves could settle. “It’s always good to go to any place in advance. It gets rid of all the nerves in the World Cup. Playing white ball cricket in England.. the conditions are not that different there as compared to playing Test cricket,” he said.
