'Mind games are exciting'

Hardly any India-Australia series in modern times has passed without sparks flying. From the Monkeygate incident when India toured Down Under in 2007-08 to the DRS-gate in the recent Test series, there’s always been some drama.

Kohli, addressing the media at the M A Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday, felt the players don’t intend to cross the line but such incidents make things interesting for the fans. “You can say what you want, you can keep talking the whole time but if you don’t deliver on the field it doesn’t matter. All those mind games create an excitement for the fans watching. For the players involved in the series, it becomes more exciting and players are more pumped up to win games and outdo each other. I don’t think it boils down to mental and physical fatigue because you’ve have done things for so many years.

“You know you have played high-intensity difficult series so many times. I don’t think (stress) becomes a factor because you should be physically and mentally fit enough to be calm in pressure situations when you are executing your skill. I don’t think those things lead to this side of the game. I feel that intense competition should be there for the game to have that excitement and keep it alive. I think it’s very important to have that competitiveness in every series that you play.”

Of the many experiments Kohli has been carrying out is to demote specialist opener K L Rahul to No 4 even as middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has had a good run at the top in the West Indies in the absence of Rohit Sharma. Rahul has struggled to impose himself down the order. Kohli, while lavishing praise on Rahul, said Rahane will continue to open the innings in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan.

“If you see Jinks (Rahane) as well — he has played in the middle order in the ODIs, he plays in the middle order in Test matches but has also opened in ODIs. He also felt that he found it difficult to switch. Now we’re backing Jinks at the top of the order. So he knows his plans are clear. So once you get that balance by giving that player more chances, then he gets more confident of his role in the team.”