Want to see India dominate for at least five or six years: Virat Kohli

India’s Virat Kohli looks dejected after the World Cup semi final loss to Australia

In a conversation where India’s new Test captain Virat Kohli opened up about various personal feelings, he laid out the vision he has for Team India under his charge over the next decade, stressing on team bonding and saying that he wants his team to dominate cricket for a period of at least 5-6 years.

"We certainly have the talent. We certainly have the ability. All that it will take is how you manage that and keep them together. I strongly want to see the Indian team dominate for at least five or six years," Kohli told ESPNcricinfo's digital magazine.

"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."

My job to free my players from insecurity: Kohli

Kohli’s firebrand ways both as cricketer and captain have many fans, but have detractors in equal measure. The 26-year-old said that he wants his team to play in the same aggressive manner, emulating the Australian team – hoping the attitude translates into results.

"We like playing the same brand of cricket," he said. "The thing that I want to do and I can do in Test matches is free my players from any kind of doubt. Free them from any kind of insecurity. On the field if you see 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.”

Talking about his reactions when he was promoted to India captaincy after MS Dhoni’s shock retirement announcement on the tour of Australia earlier this year, Kohli said, “Honestly, I was not able to think that I was going to be the Test captain. After things calmed down a bit, I went to my room. Anushka [Sharma], who had come to watch that series, was there and I told her about the news. Her feelings were also mixed as to how did this happen so suddenly. Why did he [Dhoni] do this?

"After a while for both of us it sunk in that I am going to be Test captain of India, not just for one or two games, but permanently. And that is when I broke down, because I never expected this to happen. Honestly, if you asked me when I started playing cricket that at 26 I will be Test captain of India, no chance. My only dream was to play Test cricket for India.

“It is amazing how all those feelings as a young kid, playing club cricket, playing school cricket, playing state cricket, all those memories start flashing in your head. It was surreal."

People don’t understand kind of things I have seen at young age: Kohli

Kohli’s personal life, like those of all India captains before him, has been subject to intense public scrutiny. The Delhi boy explained his reactions towards the kind of negative criticism directed at him.

"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."

"Bad times will come but it makes you want to look forward to the good times that lie ahead, as well as appreciate the good times that you have had in your life and career. Respect the bad times when they come and not be broken by it.

Kohli had expressed hurt after his girlfriend Anushka Sharma had been targeted after his poor show in the World Cup semi final against Australia, a match in which she was in attendance – an act the Indian public would not rest without having her regret.

Kohli said, "I do not want to force anyone to respect our lives or force anyone to behave in a certain way. That is not in our control. I made that statement because it is very important for people to understand how we feel.

"If people choose to behave in a manner where you are burning effigies, it is very important for people to understand that we have families, our families feel bad. We have people who are emotionally attached to us. We are not all alone in the world. We are human beings with emotions, feelings. I wanted to put out there how I feel.”