Ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that he would be looking forward to adjust to the "aggressive" leadership style of newly appointed limited-overs skipper Virat Kohli in the upcoming series against England starting January 15.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Ashwin, when asked how different the communication could be with Kohli now leading the side in shorter formats too after Mahendra Singh Dhoni relinquished captaincy, said, "It will be different because the kind of interactions you have before, when I used to play alongside Mahi (Dhoni) which will not happen from this game onwards. It's almost about communicating through from top of the mark to the keeper and its going to be very different."
Ashwin also said that in terms of leadership and communication, Dhoni would still hold the key because he is the keeper and would bring that invaluable experience with him.
"So, it is going to be very very important for us to try and take valuable inputs from him and try and take the team forward," he said.
"Obviously, Virat would be there at short cover or short mid-wicket, it is going to be different in those terms. We will try to get used to those communications."
"Virat on occasions can be a little aggressive and that's the one thing that I need to adjust to. Obviously giving those extra runs and try and get a wicket is not such a bad thing," he added.
The ace Indian spinner further said that after consistently playing the Test series against many teams, adjusting to the short format is a bit of challenge.
"It's more of a mental switch. We played a few T20s in America and I switched pretty well. I am sure it's going to be a challenge, next three days will be important I tried to tick as many boxes as possible when I practiced in Chennai," he said.
The 30-year-old also said that it would not be easy for India to take on the consistent England ODI side.
"I think we are playing a full strength Indian team after a long time. I don't know when we played at full strength. We also have Yuvi back in the side so that would also add to the side's experience," he said.
"But I think this English side has played some cracker of One-Day tournaments in the last year or so. They have made some mammoth scores in England as well. So, they are a side which will always look to be positive," he added.
The three match ODI series begins on January 15 in Mumbai followed by matches at January 19 and January 22 at Cuttack and Kolkata respectively.
The two teams will then lock horns in the T20 series starting on January 26 at Kanpur, followed by games on January 29 and February 1 at Nagpur and Bengaluru respectively.
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