Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) Middle-order batsman Virat Kohli said Sunday that India will be exploiting the spinning conditions at the Ferozeshah Kotla but warned that dew could be a factor in the second one-day international against England slated for Monday.

“The Delhi wicket has always been on slower side. It has changed a bit but there won’t be too much of bounce. I think this time it would be better than before for sure,” said Kohli here on the eve of the match.

“Spinners would be our strength, we have good pacers as well. But spin is our strength and we will capitalise in the middle overs using our spinners,” he added.

The Delhi boy said the 126-run win in the first ODI in Hyderabad has boosted the confidence of the team, which was suffered humiliating defeats in Tests and ODIs in England soil during the summer.

“Obviously it’s confidence booster after the England series. We have been preparing for some time. All the players are keen to do well. The fact that we beat them with a big margin, it was a convincing victory so it will obviously give us confidence. We will take this confidence into the next game tomorrow,” he said.

“In England, we did really well in ODIs, we could not win because of certain unfortunate circumstances such as rain but we gave them a good fight. We have always been in a calm, confident and collected space and we always had the confidence,” he said.

Kohli said the series is of immense importance for some youngsters who are trying to cement their place in the team.

“It is an exciting series for the youngsters. Some youngsters are coming up and they have done well against a strong England team. It will surely give them a lot of confidence and whenever in future they play for India, they will use this confidence,” he added.

Kohli also said that the toss would be crucial as dew would play an important role in the match.

“There would be dew and definitely batting second would be an advantage but can’t think too much about it and work according to the situation,” he said.

Kohli praised young pacer Umesh Yadav saying the Vidarbha fast bowler can be a potent bowler in the death overs.

“It is an advantage that he can bowl fast in the death overs. Yorkers in death overs with good pace is always an advantage,” he said.

Kohli also said that the players are spending extra hours in improving their fielding skills.

“We have started warming up with fielding now. We go and put our time on the field, try and improve as a fielding unit. We still have a long way to go. If we can save around 10-15 runs, it gives a strong message to the opposition also,” he said.