Virat Kohli stresses India will not aim at 'revenge' for World Cup loss against NZ

Indian skipper Virat Kohli stated that team India will not look to take revenge for the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand when they begin their tour with the first T20I of the five match series in Auckland on Friday.

Terming the host team ‘nice’, Virat Kohli stated that the men in blue have nothing to take revenge for as they were content when the Kiwis qualified for the World Cup final. "Not really," the Indian skipper said when asked if his team is aiming at revenge for World Cup loss on New Zealand tour.

"Even if you want to think of revenge these guys are so nice that you can't get into that zone," Kohli added.

Last year, India were knocked out of the quadrennial event after having suffered an 18 runs defeat in a semi final match, which was played over two days in Manchester because of the rain.

Nevertheless, New Zealand were unable to lift their first ever World Cup as they went down fighting against England after a controversial rule in the final.

"It's all about being competitive on the field. They are one side that has set the right example for teams to carry themselves on the international stage. We were actually happy for them when they qualified for World Cup finals. When you have lost you have to look at the larger picture. So nothing about revenge," Kohli said.

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The 31-year-old also talked about short turnaround for the players between international series due to a hectic programme. As per Kohli, it is strenuous for his men to accustom to New Zealand time soon after landing.

"It's getting closer and closer to landing at the stadium straight. That how compressed the gap has become. This kind of travelling to a place that is seven and a half hours ahead of IST is difficult to adjust immediately. Hopefully, this will be taken into consideration in the future," he said.

However, the Indian skipper was quick to say that the short turnaround will not sidetrack his boys for its focus ahead of the T20I World Cup 2020.

"But this is the year of the World Cup and every T20 is important. So we can't lose our focus," Kohli said.

The five match T20I series will be followed by three ODIs and two Tests.

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