India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday claimed that any team can beat any side in the Cricket World Cup 2019. Addressing the media in the pre-departure press conference in Mumbai, the skipper also said that the 12th edition of cricket's biggest tournament will be the most challenging one for him.
Indian team will leave for the United Kingdom on Wednesday.
Kohli, 30, will lead a very strong side bidding side as India bid to win the trophy for the third time, after 1983 under Kapil Dev and 2011 under MS Dhoni. If Kohli manages to lift the coveted trophy, he legacy as India's greatest captain will be certainly ensured.
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"It is the most challenging World Cup of all the three I've attended so far. Any team can upset any side on their day. That's one thing that we have in mind," the right-handed batsman said.
India are billed as one of the top favourites, besides hosts a red-hot England and defending champions Australia. Talking about team balance and preparedness, the skipper said that "a team that does well in the World Cup is one that can handle the pressure well."
"Kuldeep Yadav has had time to reflect and time to correct things entering the World Cup. Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal are the two pillars for the World Cup. We were not worried about Kedar Jadhav," he added.
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India begin their World Cup 2019 campaign against South Africa on June 5. Before that, they will play two warm-up games -- against New Zealand on May 25 and Bangladesh on May 28.
The skipper also downplayed his Indian Premier League (IPL) form.
"After losing six games, we literally came to a point where we said to ourselves, "this has not happened to anyone else." You have to accept what is. Try and live in the moment. That's what I experienced in the first half. The situation was different in the second half," Kohli said.
He accpected that the World Cup campaign will be a challenging one for India, "but the good thing that there's a decent gap between every game. Players won't be burnt out".
"We'll always have time to regroup. We have four tough games straight up and that will set the tone for us. We don't have any room for complacency, and that's why it's the World Cup. You have to arrive on the day, match-ready. This is the challenge," he added.
Kohli also paid tributes to Indian Army, saying "you get motivation from several sources. There's no bigger motivation than Indian Army. If you want to dedicate it to the army, there can't be anything better."
On the Pakistan fixture, the skipper said "if we keep focusing individually on every team, we won't be able to focus on our campaign."
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India head coach Ravi Shastri also addressed the media. He picked former captain MS Dhoni as "someone who'll be right there" for the team.
