Virat Kohli: Changing history is no motivation

India skipper Virat Kohli addresses the media in Sydney yesterday. Pic/AFP

Virat Kohli is neither unaware nor disrespectful of history. It is just that history doesn't excite him too much, because it is already in the past and he has no control over it.

India's inspirational captain is, instead, excited by the challenges that confront his side, such as winning overseas. Such as battling the odds and coming up triumphant.

As his team stands within one win - or a draw - of becoming the first Indian side to score a series victory in Australia ever, Kohli has his priorities in order. He isn't motivated by the prospect of steering his outfit to territory where none of his predecessors have been, and is honest enough to admit that it isn't the temptation of rewriting the history books that is his spur.

"If you ask me very honestly, no," Kohli said at the SCG yesterday. "What's gone is not in our control and what is going to come is not something you need to think about. We need to stay in the present and focus on the things we can do. The controllables, we need to figure out what they are. The reason we want to win this Test is we understand as cricketers how difficult it is to come here and play."

At a joint meeting of the teams with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday, Kohli had spoken of the challenges of playing in Australia. Building on that theme, he went on, "It's not only the team you are playing against, it's the whole nation because they get behind the team so well. We understand as cricketers how difficult it is and purely just to take that challenge on, we want to win here. It's got nothing to with proving that we want to do something that has never been done in the past.

"Every team that comes here wants to win, obviously. I am sure they would have had the same intention but the motivation has never been to change history. It has only been to overcome the challenge that is in front of you. As a sportsman and as a cricketer, that's the most important thing, not necessarily proving something to someone. It's just crossing a hurdle and making yourself believe that you are good enough to be at this level and beat any team anywhere in the world. That's the most important thing to us."

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