After thrashing Eoin Morgan-led England cricket team by eight wickets in the opening of the three-match T20 International series, delighted Indian skipper Virat Kohli heaped praises on wicketkeeper-batsman Lokesh Rahul and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

However, Virat Kohli also made it clear that the team combination would continue to change in the upcoming matches as Men-in-Blue is preparing for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2019.

“Just looking at all the three skill-sets and how convincing we were gives me a lot of pleasure. Some of the younger guys stepping up pleases us too. We are shuffling around keeping the World Cup in mind and that’s why KL (Rahul) went in at three and I went in at four,” Virat said while explaining the reason behind his move to demote himself at the fourth in the batting order.

“Umesh was superb with the new ball as well. Kuldeep is a wrist spinner, he’s going to be lethal with any help from the pitch. It was his one over that turned it for us beacuse England were taking it away before that. He’s very difficult to pick and his wrong ‘un hasn’t been easy and I hope he can keep working on it,” Virat added.

Speaking about England’s innings, Virat said, the team was lucky to restrict the Englishmen from scoring another 30-40 runs.

“At the toss I didn’t think the wicket wouldn’t change much through the course of the game, but we were lucky to keep them down to 30-40 runs short. With the start they got, I thought they would get to 200. And then the odds were stacked against England,” Virat said.

The 29-year-old captain was also all praises for his former RCB teammate KL Rahul’s performance.

“Rahul has come a long way; especially the way he’s been batting since the IPL and in that one game in Ireland — so clean and crisp. We want guys like him to step up. We don’t want to be one-dimensional, we want people going up and down the order. He’s got a great technique, great temperament and is very hungry and today he was a bit emotional because the last century he scored was against England in Chennai and it’s been that long he’s been waiting for. It was a great century and a great sign for Indian cricket,” Virat smiled.

Explaining his move to bat down in the order, Virat said. “We haven’t changed a lot, I usually bat at three and have dropped to four, but this allows me to control the innings in the middle-overs. It gives someone like KL the freedom to go after in the powerplay.”

“We want our cricketers to be fearless, enjoy themselves just like what Kuldeep and he did today. We don’t want that mindset to change and want to provide a cushion behind them to go after. It may not work out well every time but we need to stick to it,” Virat added.

Speaking about English wicket-keeper Jos Buttler, Virat said, “We dropped Jos and we know how dangerous he can be. It was a moment where I felt we needed to hold on to everything and I got the opportunity to convert. I can’t be someone who’s standing on the field doing nothing, I need to be pumped up when I am playing for the country and sometimes that boils over, but it’s not that I always go bonkers. Luckily that passion has carried on for a while.”