New Test captain Virat Kohli today laid out his ambitious vision for the Indian team, saying he wants to create a side which can dominate world cricket for the next five years at least.
Kohli, who was handed the Test captaincy after Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired following the third Test of the four-match series against Australia in January, said he wants to create strong friendship in the team.
"I strongly want to see the Indian team dominate for at least five or six years," Kohli told ESPNcricinfo's digital magazine in an interview which will be published tomorrow on the Cricket Monthly site.
"We certainly have the talent. We certainly have the ability. All that it will take is how you manage that and keep them together," he added.
Laying down his vision for the side, Kohli said: "I want to create strong bonds. I want to create strong friendships in this unit.
"We live 250-280 days a year together so I want to create such an atmosphere where in the next ten years watching it from outside you would get to know this team is a united team. This team is a strongly knit unit. They want to play for each other. They don't want to play for themselves. That is my vision."
A firm believer in playing aggressive cricket, Kohli said he wants to free his team of doubts or insecurities.
"We like playing the same brand of cricket," Kohli said of the team he resumes taking charge of with the tour to Bangladesh later this month.
"The thing that I want to do and I can do in Test matches is free them from any kind of doubt. Free them from any kind of insecurity... On the field if you see them (Australia) play you feel like, damn, that's a unit, we really have to play our bloody best to beat these guys. I want that to happen to Indian cricket.
"In Test matches we want to be the team to beat. It is just the mindset, sometimes we tend to go into that zone where the thinking is not right," he said.
Talking about self-belief, Kohli said: "Not many people understand the kind of things I have seen in life at a very young age. Maybe that is why I believe in myself a lot. I think if I did not have belief, I would not be able to build my career all these years.
