T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli plays down hype around India vs Pakistan opener – Just another game for us

India captain Virat Kohli on Saturday played down the hype around India’s much-anticipated T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan, saying India will treat it as “just another” match.

Virat Kohli, speaking to the press ahead of the T20 World Cup said there is “ridiculously high” demand for tickets but that doesn’t mean India will do anything different against their arch-rivals Pakistan. India and Pakistan meet in their tournament opener on October 23 in Dubai.

India, who defeated Pakistan in the final of the inaugural edition of the World Cup, have a perfect record against Pakistan in the premier T20 tournament.

“I honestly never felt so,” Kohli said, adding India don’t treat their matches against Pakistan differently.

“I have just approached this game as another game of cricket and I know there is a lot of hype around this game, more so with ticket sales and demands of tickets,” he added.

My friends are asking me for tickets: Kohli

Kohli shed light on the incredibly high demand for the tickets, joking that he has been receiving call from his friends for the tickets to the October 24 clash.

“Right now, the value of those tickets are ridiculously high and that’s all I know, my friends are demanding tickets right left and centre and I am saying, ‘no’.”

Kohli believes that one needs to be professional and play the game in the right spirit, like they would do with every match.

“Apart from that, I don’t think we can make anything extra out of this game and for us, it’s a game of cricket that has to be played in right spirit, in the way we know we can,” he said.

“Yes, the environment you can say is different from outside and from fans’ point of view, definitely more excitement in the air but from a players’ point of view, we try to stay as professional as we can and always approach the game in the most normal way possible,” the Indian skipper said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam had earlier said the former champions will look to start their campaign on a high by beating India in their opener.

“Our morale is high and we want to make a positive start to the tournament by winning the opening game against India. Gaining momentum at the start of the tournament will help in improving the confidence of the team,” Babar had said.