India vs West Indies: In MS Dhoni's absence, Rishabh Pant and younger guys have great opportunity ahead of them, says Virat Kohli

It has been three weeks since India’s loss to New Zealand in the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup in England but the sting of it remains fresh for captain Virat Kohli. Since that defeat, England got the better of Australia and then New Zealand in the final in what was a remarkable affair all the way through. But for India, that period was tough with the defeat in Manchester fresh in their minds, claims Kohli. The unit is now in Florida for two T20Is against West Indies before moving to the Caribbean for another Twenty20, three ODIs and two Tests. The objective and end goal for the Indian team now is the T20I World Cup in Australia next year. [caption id=“attachment_6974251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rishabh Pant has the opportunity to make himself a fixture in the Indian team with strong performance. Reuters[/caption] “The first few days after we exited the World Cup were quite difficult,” Kohli said on the eve of the first T20I at Lauderhill. “Till the time the tournament got over, every time we woke up it was the worst feeling in the morning. Then through the day you do things and sort of get on with your life. We are professionals. We move ahead. Every team has to move on. “So we are quite okay with what happened in the World Cup. Yesterday the fielding session and the little bit of time we spent on the field was really good. Everyone was excited, looking forward to just playing, just being on the field again. I think that’s the best thing you can do as a team, just get on the park as soon as possible.” With the ODI World Cup out of the picture, India can look to build for the future and give fringe players and youngsters the opportunity to make themselves count . Chief among them, as per Kohli, is Rishabh Pant especially in the absence of MS Dhoni. With the veteran not involved in the series, Kohli believes Pant has the opportunity to stand up and make himself a prime candidate for selection for the T20 World Cup. “It’s a great opportunity for someone like Rishabh Pant to really play a lot of international cricket, show his credentials, really unleash his potential at this stage,” Kohli said. “We know how much ability he has and we all want him to become a consistent performer for the Indian cricket team. MS’s experience is always going to be a very crucial factor but having said that some of these younger guys have a great opportunity ahead of them and they should just look forward to it. It is a good opportunity for youngsters to cement their place.” Rain limited India’s practice sessions in the lead up to the contest on Saturday. On Thursday, they practiced on the outfield and nothing was possible on Friday. But with limited activity and training time since the World Cup, Kohli is hoping the high-scoring venue continues with the trend. “I think the covers look the same,” Kohli joked about what he remembers from his previous visit three years ago. “We haven’t seen the pitch, we haven’t seen anything apart from the covers on the pitch. When we play tomorrow, we can assess how the pitch has come along. Even last time we played, it was pretty good, high-scoring, and we all had a lot of fun playing here, and this time is going to be no different.” The last time India were in Florida, they had played West Indies as well with KL Rahul scoring a century. With no MS Dhoni or Jasprit Bumrah in the squad, neither matches have been sold out - unlike the contest in 2016. But Kohli hopes repeat visits to the region will increase greater interest in the sport. “For now I think it’s all about creating that buzz and just getting people in to watch the games,” Kohli said. “The more we come here and play, obviously the game is going to get more and more buzz around it, people are going to talk about it. You see 15,000-20,000 people going to a place to watch something, obviously it should be important. Hopefully in years to come, people will have more interest. Local people in America as well, not just the Asian community or the West Indian community but the whole community in general will have more interest in the sport. “I think T20 cricket is something that can be understood and accepted in the American culture because of the length of the game and it’s quite entertaining as well. So I think for the sport to become global in many ways, a lot of interest here will go a long way in achieving that for the sport. Hopefully in years to come, we’ll have more tournaments and more series here where people just come in and start understanding the sport and just having fun like they do in any other sporting event here.”