Kohli’s side have beaten England and Australia over the longer format of the game to rise to world number one, but they sit third in the 50-over format rankings.
They go into the Champions Trophy as defending champions after claiming their second title four years ago and Kohli believes they can be successful again if they channel their Test success.
“The hunger to win and ruthlessness is what we speak about all the time,” he said.
“In Test cricket we have been able to reach the top with that mindset, we want to take it across all formats.
“That goes a long way in a tournament like this. If we think in that manner, we will get the results we want more often than not.”
Were India to retain their title they would become only the second nation to do so, but Kohli is not thinking about matching Australia’s feat and is instead keen for his side to just enjoy their cricket.
“I think the first challenge is not to think that we are defending the title,” he added.
“When we went there last time, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves as a young unit and we ended up winning the tournament and creating a team which has done so well so far.
“Because the tournament is much shorter [than World Cup] and you have got the top eight teams in the world, the competitiveness of the tournament is much higher, right from the word go.
“In the Champions Trophy, you need to be on top of your game from game one. If not, your chances go down pretty soon. I think that’s the biggest challenge.”
India open their campaign against Pakistan at Edgbaston on June 4.
0 votes
