Gayle ignored again, Dwayne Bravo, Rampaul rested

Chris Gayle will have to wait longer to make an on-field appearance for West Indies

Chris Gayle continues to miss out on West Indies selection and is not part of the 13-man squad for the third one-dayer against India. Gayle has been out of favour with the West Indies Cricket Board since his controversial radio interview and was not selected for the first two one-dayers. The board has reiterated that since it has not been able to meet Gayle yet, he has again not been considered for selection. The date for the proposed meeting is still to be finalised.

There are two changes to the squad that was selected for the first two ODIs. Dwayne Bravo's request to be given a break has been granted and Jamaica batsman Danza Hyatt - who played in the only Twenty20 against India - has been selected in his place. The board has also decided to rest fast bowler Ravi Rampaul for the Antigua leg of the series which comprises the third and the fourth ODIs. Kemar Roach has returned to the squad to replace Rampaul.

Adrian Barath, the opener, will spend a week working at the Sagicor High Performance Centre undergoing practice in order to be considered for selection for the Test series against India starting on June 20 in Jamaica. Barath has been undergoing rehabilitation after suffering a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the 2011 World Cup.

West Indies trail India 0-2 in the five-match series. The third ODI will be played at North Sound in Antigua on June 11.

West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Carlton Baugh (wk), Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons

Katich upset over 'unfair' treatment

Simon Katich struggled with a broken thumb and a torn achilles in his last four Tests

Simon Katich, the Australia opening batsman, has broken his silence over not receiving a central contract, telling the Australian that he has not been treated fairly. Katich believes he was judged solely on his performances in his last four Tests, which he played despite being injured, and not on his overall form since returning to the side in 2008.

Since his comeback, Katich has made 2928 runs at 50.48 and has been not only Australia's most reliable batsman but among the most bankable in the world. In that time only Alastair Cook has scored more runs.

"Do I think I have been treated fairly? Not at all, not at all," Katich said. "From my point of view I have had to play through injuries in the last four Test matches, two with a broken thumb and two with a torn achilles. I didn't want to play Test cricket like that although I know that is what they have judged me on.

"In India they kept telling me it was a bruised thumb and I could hardly hold the bat but they kept telling me it was bruised so I thought 'Well I can't not play Test cricket if it's a bruise'."

Katich revealed that his recovery program began the night after the Adelaide Ashes Test ended. A fellow player offered him a beer at the airport but Katich turned him down, saying, "No thanks mate. Recovery starts now."

He has been undergoing rehabilitation since then and it was at the SCG on Tuesday that he received the phone call from Andrew Hilditch about being left out of the list of contracted players.

"I was in the middle of a fitness test, saw the phone ringing and saw who it was and thought 'Damn, I better answer this'," Katich said. "I knew full well what it was, I didn't want him to have the luxury of leaving a message, so I grabbed it. It's funny, I have been treated like this before by them. I have been down this path a number of times.

"I spoke my mind, I certainly didn't hold back. There was no shirking the issue, but there was nothing said that was personal, it was just about the decision. I vented my spleen about the decision and explained why. There was no name-calling or anything like that."

Katich believes he still has much more to give Australia and that if he didn't, there was no way he would have undergone such a rigorous rehabilitation program.

"Put it this way I don't think I would have wasted our physio and our fitness trainers' time over the past six months or my time doing this rehab every second day for the sake of it. That is not how I operate. It's not just my time, it is the staff's time as well and I am always respectful of that.

"Up to Tuesday I had done three weeks' training ahead of the rest of the squad starting and I did that because I wanted to be ready and firing in Sri Lanka."

Katich is scheduled to hold a press conference on June 10 to announce his future plans.

Matt Prior has admitted he felt "stupid" for smashing a window in the Lord's dressing room

Matt Prior apologised to the MCC members after breaking a window

Matt Prior has admitted he felt "stupid" for smashing a window in the Lord's dressing room during the final day against Sri Lanka but insisted it was entirely accidental and no malice was involved.

The incident occurred after Prior was run out for 4 and had returned to the dressing room where he said his bat slipped rather than there being any huge outburst of frustration at his dismissal. The glass that fell down into the pavilion below, cutting one female spectator on the ankle, but Prior apologised before taking the field a short while later.

As far as MCC and the ECB were concerned that was the end of the matter, but the ICC reprimanded Prior after he was reported to Javagal Srinath, the match referee, by the umpires. Prior accepted they were just following protocol and his feelings are now more of embarrassment.

"Every time I looked up at the pavilion during Sri Lanka's second innings, I just saw this big broken window and I felt stupid more than anything else," he told the Evening Standard. "When you make a scene like that, you're thinking, 'Oh no, what are people going to say?' It didn't look good, obviously, and I'd just been run out, but people were putting two and two together and coming up with five, seven, nine and 10.

"It wasn't a case of being angry that I'd got out. The situation of the game was to try to score as quickly as possible, so it wasn't like I was run out on 99. It was a complete accident and there was no more or less to it than that. It looks awful, terrible: run out, then a smashed window, but it was a complete freak accident."

Although Prior scored a superb 126 in England's first innings, to help them recover from 22 for 3, it developed into a tricky Test for the wicketkeeper with the home side's wayward bowling giving him a hard job behind the stumps. He conceded 32 byes in the match - 25 of those in the first innings - although many weren't his fault and could have been called wide.

"I'm very proud of my keeping and I didn't feel I was keeping badly, so when you see the byes racking up, there is an element of frustration," he said. "But it was only through wanting to do well for the team and the goals I've set myself but not enough to warrant going into the dressing room and smashing a window."

Jayasuriya announces international retirement

Sanath Jayasuriya's return to the international scene will be brief

Sanath Jayasuriya has announced he will retire from international cricket after Sri Lanka's first ODI against England on June 28, at The Oval, and revealed his decision within hours of being recalled to the squad close to his 42nd birthday.

"The England tour will be my last tour for my country. I will play the first one-day and the Twenty20 match and retire," Jayasuriya said on Thursday. "I am thrilled that the selectors had faith in my fitness."

"I am still fit enough to play international cricket, though I have not played much one-day matches for the past several months," he said. "Age is never an issue. I will be 42. So long as fitness and form is maintained, player burn-out is managed properly, there is scope for seniors like myself to represent the country."

There was recent speculation over the possible inclusion of Jayasuriya, who turns 42 on June 30, following the thumb injury sustained by captain and opener Tillakaratne Dilshan against England at Lord's that has put him in doubt for the third Test - though he has been named in the limited-overs squad - and the absence of Upul Tharanga due to his failed drugs test.

Jayasuriya had retired from Tests in 2007 and last played in an ODI for Sri Lanka in 2009. He was left outof the list of 20 players who were offered central contracts by Sri Lanka Cricket in 2010. Though he was named in the provisional squad of 30 for the 2011 World Cup, he did not make the final 15.

Jayasuriya is next only to Sachin Tendulkar in terms of ODI runs and appearances, having made 13,428 from 444 matches.

Lancashire face 'day of destiny'

This computer-generated image gives an impression of of Old Trafford's planned redevelopment

The date has been set for the hearing that will decide Old Trafford's future as a Test match ground. The Court of Appeal will hear the case against Lancashire's planned ground redevelopment on July 4, a day that the chief executive Jim Cumbes has called "a day of destiny".

"The future prospects for the club will rest on the decision, make no mistake," said Cumbes. "We are confident of winning and bringing to an end a protracted legal process which has been draining the club financially and preventing us from transforming our ageing ground and facilities."

The club's long-running legal battle with Derwent Holdings, the rival company trying to block the development plans for the area around Lancashire's home ground, had appeared to be at an end in March when the High Court ruled in Lancashire's favour and refused Derwent leave to appeal but the company, owned by billionaire Albert Gubay, made it clear they would seek to take the case further.

Tesco, the supermarket chain, are backing Lancashire's plans and building a store in nearby White City while contributing £21million to the cost. Their joint planning application was approved in March last year, and at the same planning meeting Derwent, who own the White City retail park, had a scheme to build a Sainsbury's at the site refused. Derwent argued that Trafford Council applied double standards in refusing its plans.

Derwent's repeated legal challenges created great uncertainty for Lancashire's plans, but the first part of the redevelopment was completed last year with the opening of the The Point, a large red complex to the side of the pavilion, and continued over the winter with the turning of the square 90 degrees to prevent problems caused by the setting sun in autumn.

New floodlights are being installed and Cumbes said the four 53metre-high pylons would be in place in time for England's Twenty20 match against India in August. If Lancashire are successful on July 4, the club is hopeful that all the renovations will be completed in time to host an Ashes Test in 2013.

Cuts shouldn't stop with Katich - Warne

Shane Warne has said the Australian selectors should not have stopped with Simon Katich when they chose to remove ageing players from the list of Cricket Australia contracts.

After Katich decided whether or not to continue playing and announced he would speak about his future at the SCG on Friday, Warne argued that other players - namely the 30-something trio of former captain Ricky Ponting, the middle-order batsman Mike Hussey and the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin - should also be making way.

"Katich losing his contract was a bit disappointing because I think he's been a true performer for a while. But I understand the logic of leaving him out," Warne told the radio station Triple M.

"The one thing about Cricket Australia I would say, and the current [group]; if you're going to say you're in transition, I think for the fans and the public and everyone out there who wants to support the Australian cricket team, let's see some youngsters in there.

"Don't hang on to the older guys in there, say 'we're in transition, give us a bit of time', but have 35 or 37-year-olds still playing Test cricket or one-day cricket. Get them in there, to get some experience and say 'we're in transition'.

"Let's stop sliding down to No. 5 in the world; [if] we keep playing the same players but saying 'we're in transition', it doesn't work."

Warne's sentiments were pointed in their direction at the likes of Ponting and Hussey, and also an indication that he would like to see the new captain Michael Clarke granted the chance to build his own team.

Katich, meanwhile, has taken time to reach his decision, which may involve cricket irrespective of whether or not he decides to play on. Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association, has said that for Katich to be lost to Australian cricket altogether would be "a bad outcome" for the game.

Katich has, however, found support in former Australia opener Michael Slater, who unlike Warne, felt that Katich's age was irrelevant given his consistent performance. "I think he has been appallingly hung ... If his replacement (Phil Hughes) came in scoring hundreds and was red hot, then I can understand an injury stopping someone in their mid-30s," Slater told the Daily Telegraph. "But that clearly hasn't happened.

"The system that is being reviewed at the moment around the country, what are they reviewing? The first thing they should be reviewing is the selectors and the selection process and I'd start with the chairman of selectors."

Kirsten discussed SA captaincy during IPL - de Villiers

'Kirsten put the plans on the table and asked whether I would be prepared to do it' - AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers, South Africa's newly-appointed limited-overs captain, has said Gary Kirstendiscussed with him the issue of taking on a leadership role in the national team while he was in Bangalore, playing in the IPL.

"He [Kirsten] put the plans on the table and asked whether I would be prepared to do it. Of course one could not say no to something like that," de Villiers said after Cricket South Africa's awards function on Tuesday. "I was a little dumbstruck because he is one of my heroes and it was great to see him."

The offer came as a surprise, de Villiers said. "He phoned me and said he would like to share his thoughts with me. I initially thought he would only be discussing batting with me, he's helped me before with that. I definitely did not expect it. [But] I can't wait for the challenge."

On his style of captaincy, De Villiers said he planned to fine-tune his batting and lead by example. "Gary and I will make plans and ensure that I don't carry too much on my shoulders. I would like to lead by example - I want to be that kind of captain. It's important for me to get runs and lead from the front.

"I will work myself to a standstill in the off-season to ensure my batting is up to scratch. I also have an idea the captaincy will motivate me to play better."

Court defers Afridi hearing till June 16

The wait continues

The Sindh High Court has deferred till June 16 further hearings on the petition filed by former captain Shahid Afridi against the PCB's decision to suspend his central contract and revoke No-Objection certificates (NOC).

The court allowed the NOC to remain in place until the next hearing, which means Afridi will continue to be unavailable for Hampshire with whom he had signed a contract for a Twenty20 stint this summer. The question of whether the PCB was within its rights in revoking the NOC will become the focus of the legal battle from next week.

The case was adjourned after a brief five-minute hearing, essentially because the PCB had not filed a detailed reply to the original petition; they have been asked to do so by the next date. There may be more legal wrangling and delay yet, as the PCB believes the case should be heard in the Lahore High Court.

"We have objection to the assumption of jurisdiction by Sindh High Court," Taffazul Rizvi, the board's legal advisor, said outside the courtroom. "The PCB head office is in Lahore. We have been asked to file a detailed reply to his petition."

But the focus now seems set to fall on the central contracts itself. Rizvi and the PCB claim that Afridi was punished in accordance with the clauses of the central contract. "Punishment, rewards, they are all there in the central contracts," Rizvi said.

Afridi's lawyers, however, claimed there was no such allowance in the contracts. "If the PCB worked according to the central contract, we wouldn't be here right now," Syed Ali Zafar said. "Where does it say in the central contract that the NOC can be revoked? It doesn't say it at all. Article 18 of the Constitution [of Pakistan] says you can't stop someone's livelihood. NOC is a livelihood. There is no such clause in the contracts."

Zafar and associate Mahmood Mandviwalla asked the judges to reinstate the NOC on the basis that it was preventing Afridi from his right to earn a livelihood. There was talk in the courtroom and outside of compensation for monetary losses but that may not be the concern of this hearing. "The most important thing was to stop the disciplinary proceedings as a first step," Zafar said.

Afridi didn't appear for the hearing, but despite that a generous crowd had gathered outside the courts to show their support, asking for his reinstatement and for the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt to be sacked.

Earlier this week, the court had stayed the committee's proceedings against Afridi, after his petition challenging the validity of the sanctions imposed on him by the PCB.

The PCB suspended Afridi's central contract and withdrew the NOCs after his decision to "retire", which he had announced on a TV channel, as well as his subsequent criticism of the board officials.

Afridi's lawyers then sent a letter to the PCB in a bid to resolve the dispute between the two parties, stressing that they were asking only for a due process to be followed and that the act of suspension of the central contract and NOC withdrawal were punishments before the player had been heard.

It's not yet over for Sanath Jayasuriya

Though Tillakaratne Dilshan has been named in the squad, his thumb injury means that Sri Lanka could be without their two first-choice openers for the initial one-day games against England. Upul Tharanga has already been ruled out of the tour as he prepares to face a disciplinary committee for failing a drugs test during the World Cup.

Sanath Jayasuriya has been recalled to Sri Lanka's ODI and Twenty20 sides for the upcoming series against England and Scotland although his return will be brief following the announcement of his retirement after the first one-dayer. The squad has several changes from the one in the World Cup: middle-order batsman Thilina Kandamby and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal have been recalled while there is no place for Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera and Rangana Herath.

Kandamby - named vice-captain of the limited-overs squad ahead of former captain Kumar Sangakkara, who is Dilshan's deputy in the ongoing Test series in England - was not part of the World Cup squad and last played an ODI for Sri Lanka in 2010. He averages close to 33 in the 33 ODI games he has played. Sri Lanka have also included allrounder Jeewan Mendis and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal. This means they could have a new-look middle order as Samaraweera, Kapugedera and Chamara Silva, who were part of Sri Lanka's World Cup squad, have been dropped.

Sri Lanka have also included left-hand opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne. The 23-year old has been part of the Sri Lanka Under-19 and Sri Lanka A squads and has been in good form in the domestic season. Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal, currently part of the Test squad, finds a place in the limited-overs squad but left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who featured in the World Cup squad, has been dropped.

Allrounder Angelo Mathews, who missed the World Cup final due to a quadriceps muscle injury and was subsequently ruled out of the IPL and the England Tests, has been provisionally included in the 16-man squad, subject to his fitness.

Sri Lanka play a one-off Twenty20 game against England on June 25. The five-match ODI series begins on June 28 and they then travel to Scotland for two ODIs against the hosts on July 11 and 13.

Limited-overs squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Thilina Kandamby (vice-capt), Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Dinesh Chandimal, Jeevan Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thissara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Suranga Lakmal, Dilhara Fernando, Suraj Randiv, Ajantha Mendis Angelo Mathews, Sanath Jayasuriya.

Part-time selectors 'a bit of an anachronism'

"I've always found it's very difficult to have part-time people - albeit well-meaning people who understand the game - being involved in full-time sport"

John Buchanan, the New Zealand director of cricket, has said he pushed for radical change to the selection process because the old panel of part-time selectors had become "a bit of an anachronism".

NZC has done away with the national selection panel, replacing it with a full-time national selection manager who will deliberate with the team coach John Wright on all matters of choosing teams. Mark Greatbatch will hold the role in a caretaker capacity until the prime candidate is found.

Buchanan, leaning heavily on his experience as coach of the Australian team between 1999 and 2007, said he had found the system of part-time panellists did not gel readily with a fully professional environment.

"I've always found it's very difficult to have part-time people - albeit well-meaning people who understand the game - being involved in full-time sport. I think that's a bit of an anachronism," Buchanan told theNew Zealand Herald.

"Because it's new, it does challenge tradition. I was able to run those arguments past a range of people and everybody had their various views, but it received solid support. In the end, like any system, we've got to get the right person, then make it work."

Buchanan's ideas did not always meet with a warm response during his time in Australia, and his assertion that the team coach should have a greater final say on selection than the captain is guaranteed to raise old hackles.

"There's no question the head coach and captain must have a very close working relationship," he said. "Beyond that it's very clear to me the head coach needs to make the final decisions. Sometimes the captain, as a player, may be one of the persons who has to be removed.

"It's very difficult to place the captain in that role and also in the role of selecting other people that they've then got to walk out on the field with."

Appointed to the director's job in April, Buchanan has made it plain that he wants New Zealand to develop a reputation for progressive thinking on the game.

"I think NZC has a great capacity to do things in advance of everybody else," he said. "This is one of the first steps towards changing a little of the way NZC goes about what it does, becomes a little bolder. What we operate with now, is it the best, can it be better? The selection system is our first toe in the water."

Sammy takes heart from 'positive intent'

There are two ways to look at this West Indies performance. The first is with hope: after all this was the first display of intent after two comatose performances. At 175 for 2, a total of 270 looked a possibility. The second is to look at it with a touch of weariness over yet another collapse. Hope or a sinking deja vu? Take your pick.

The start oozed promise.Lendl Simmons is a batsman who has the nous, and the guts, to seize the little moments. Sometimes he gets ahead of himself; the adrenalin kicks in as it did in the previous game. However, he displayed a more controlled aggression today. It was in the second over of Amit Mishra that he set the tone. Until then he had confidently taken on the seamers but it was always going to be a battle between West Indies' batsmen and India's spinners. Mishra beat him couple of times in his first over and tossed it up on a length at the start of the second. The West Indies camp has been talking about sweeping and using their feet to the spinners for a while now but has rarely walked the talk. Simmons swept Mishra to the boundary and the crowd cheered. A few overs later, he went down on his knee to lift Harbhajan Singh over wide midwicket boundary for a six. The crowd danced. He then crashed Yusuf Pathan over long-on. Rum flowed in the stands. The sun was out.

In the dressing room Darren Sammy, as he later revealed, moved towards Marlon Samuels and reminded him of the 108 Samuels had scored against India in India. Samuels told him that it was at the top of his mind. The mood was upbeat in the camp. In the middle, Harbhajan was leaking runs and so was Yusuf. Only Amit Mishra was bowling decently. When Samuels entered, he added to India's woes. He rotated the strike, something he was guilty of not doing well in the recent games. His captain has always supported him, saying that he was just rusty. In the 35th over Samuels leaned forward to cream Mishra to cover boundary. In the next, he pulled and lofted Yusuf for a four and a six.

	There were hopeful signs for West Indies early on, but their innings ended with yet another collapse

It looked a day of hope but the wheels soon came off. Both Simmons and Samuels fell, stumped. It's easy to put it down to adrenalin but that would be too convenient. Perhaps, Simmons thought he was set and it was time for some action but he was done in by a ball that was pushed well down the leg side. Should Samuels have shown more discretion in the same over that he had hit two boundaries? Perhaps, he thought the moment was hot to lay into Yusuf, who is not one of the frontline bowlers. He tried but was done in by a good ball from Yusuf. It was a lot slower, wider and went almost straight.

It was the beginning of the end. And made you look at the day again: with that familiar sense of weariness at West Indian collapses. Here they go again. "We got ourselves into good position while we were batting; at least we showed intent as we said in team meeting," Sammy said later.

So should one be happy or sad? "You can't be happy when you lost. It's more like the guys showed improvement. Unless the first game where there was lack of intent, it was very different. Right from the top. They showed positive intent. When you show such intent runs come easily. Samuels looks very good after two years. Sarwan also is showing consistency. I have always told Sars [Ramnaresh Sarwan] that he was once compared to Michael Bevan; he is the finisher for us. I still have that belief in him. The more confident he gets, the better it will be for us." The bowling, which has stood strong in the last few months, fell through today. "We had the belief especially after the way we bowled on Monday, trying to defend 214," Sammy said. "It was crucial to get early wickets but we couldn't manage to apply the pressure, consistently and long enough. Kohli gave a chance to me at slip but I missed. That could have been a crucial turning point." For a change, Devendra Bishoo didn't sparkle. Sammy delayed the introduction of spin and perhaps that was a mistake. He, though, didn't agree when a journalist brought it up. "That's just [your] impression. Bishoo is still young and new to international cricket. [The] Indians played spin better than us. Bishoo has played every game [but] obviously he is still young at this level. It's okay that he had a slight off day. I won't judge him because [of that]. There is nothing to worry about. Martin is just playing his fourth ODI."

Sammy was also asked about the possibility of resting Bishoo and not "over-exposing" him. His answer seemed to suggest that he agreed with the questioner. "Bishoo is quite young. Because he has done well, there is tendency to play him every game. Maybe his body is not really used to this type of work load. That's something the selectors will have to think about. Hopefully they will take that in consideration."

He ended on a hopeful note about the state of the pitch for the third ODI. "Antigua has more pace bounce and there was not much spin when we played last there. Hopefully they will prepare something that will suit us and it will feel like home series for us."

Mature Kohli makes all the right moves

It was during an inane tri-series in Bangladesh in January 2010 that he first showed signs of maturity in public. It made you sit up and notice then. These days he wears it lightly. The clarity of thought is striking. He seems to be at peace with himself. It's no coincidence that his cricket too is flourishing.

Virat Kohli comes to meet the press in a sleeveless shirt. An image of a Japanese samurai warrior with a sword raised screams out in a tattoo on his left shoulder. He looks relaxed; the musk he is wearing is called confidence. He was once brash but he was always ambitious. For a while he was living on the edge, struggling to come to terms with early fame, but his ambition has roped him in.

Today's knock was yet another one from the stable of Kohli. He seemed always under control. The bowling wasn't too testing, the pitch had eased up and he rarely let the opposition into the game. Later, he said the right things. These days he always says the right things with a smile. The confidence hits you. The once brash brat is now almost likeable. Times they are changing.

"I was always determined to do well," Kohli said. "Probably what I was doing off the field was not on at that time. I probably got carried away. Someone or other always tell you that this has been spoken about you at this place. I decided to change. I decided myself. No one can force myself to change. I had to do it. It was time to change.

"I have been given a chance to play for India, which is not a small thing because you have 20 others with same talent are waiting for that kind of a chance. So why waste the opportunity given to me. I got the odd game here and there in 2009. I was a replacement player then. I was very determined to do well at each opportunity."

	Virat Kohli was back to his old habit of anchoring chases

In the early days, the lack of consistent runs devalued the swagger that he always seemed to have. It made him look arrogant. Brash. Wild. Unlikeable. And even made you forget that he was just a young boy, learning to deal with things that not many at his age are forced to deal with. The bad press accumulated. The bad karma continued. Kohli was living in the headlines for the wrong reasons. A talent was on the verge of self-destruction. Then something happened.

"It's about realising that every opportunity is as important as the next one or previous one," he said. "Not everyone gets an opportunity to play for India. It's a big honour for me. I have realised that massively in the last one and half years. I want to give 100% and make use of every opportunity. Initially, in my ODI career, I have made rash mistakes with my rush of blood at important times. If you keep doing it, you are not going to get the opportunity. I enjoy my batting these days. Especially during a chase I know what I have to do, rotate the strike."

Questions about his attitude have dogged him for a while. Has he got bored now? "I think I have answered that too much," he said with a smile. "But I have enjoyed answering that question every time. I feel good with myself for having changed what people did not like initially and then transform into that performances. I feel good about it but it's not something I want to be too proud of and get relaxed. I don't want to get complacent. The whole point in changing from that kind of attitude to this current attitude to perform consistently. I want to keep going."

It's not going to be easy. It will take a constant vigil over oneself. The danger of relapse is going to be there. But Kohli continues to not only say but also do the right things. Sample this answer to a question about whether he strives to ape a Tendulkar or a Sehwag. In his own mind, he has translated that question to mean whether he is striving to be as famous as them.

"It was never in my mind that I had to be at the level of them in fame or whatever. Those guys have been there, done that. It has taken a lot of time to reach where they are. There is no point in comparing oneself to them. Everyone has their own style of batting. I have realised that in the last one and half years. I admire them but there is no use batting like them. Take the first match of the World Cup. If I had tried to bat like Viru bhai, I would have perhaps ended up scoring 40. They have a special ability that has made them legends of the game. There is no point in doing what is not my strength."

The answers were perfect. The cynics will say they were too perfect. His fans will say they come from a man who is in a hurry to mature. He won't say it publicly but one gets the impression that he thinks he can become India's captain one day. Kohli has always struck you more ambitious than a Rohit or even Raina for that matter. A scribe put it to him that he has a wonderful ability to talk and express, and asked if he works on that skill.

"I don't think I work on that ability (to express myself)," Kohli said. "It's about being honest."

Does he think it's a leadership quality?

"I can't say anything about it being (leadership quality). I am honest in whatever question is thrown at me at every press conference. I don't really work on it."

Virat got up and left the room. Ambition floated in the air.