Johnson criticises Kohli for 'putting extra pressure on India'

'When you start tagging your own team as favourites, that’s when alarm bells should start going off.'

'Putting even more pressure on your side is just setting yourself up for disaster.'

Former Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson has criticised Virat Kohli’s comments, when he had announced that the hosts are 'favourites in our (Indian players) own minds' to win the ICC World T20 ahead of their defeat to the Black Caps.

With the hopes of a billion expectant fans already weighing on India, Johnson, a key member of last year’s ODI World Cup-winning team for Australia, suggested Kohli’s 'over-confident' comments will only heap extra pressure on the home-nation.

"From our experience playing in the one-day World Cup at home last year, we just wanted to enjoy every moment and saviour the experience but we still tried to take the focus off ourselves, rather than adding to it," he said.

"Going into a big tournament like that, there’s pressure on every team. Putting even more pressure on your side is just setting yourself up for disaster.

"When you start tagging your own team as favourites, that’s when alarm bells should start going off.

"Now (India) have lost their first game and there will be all sorts of pressure for their next match, which is against Pakistan.

"As a cricketer you don’t want to be too confident – you want to have self-belief but coming out and saying it in the media and then not being able to back it up isn’t a great look,” Johnson added.

Johnson, who has played a lot of cricket in the Indian Premier League feels that pace bowling will play a crucial role on Indian pitches, and stressed the importance of bowling bouncers in the tournament.

"It’s no surprise that most pitches at the tournament are going to favour the spinners, but I still think pace bowlers have a crucial role to play in India.

"You’ve really got to nail your yorkers, having a good change of pace is important over there, and I also think the short ball shouldn’t be forgotten.

"It’s still a useful weapon in Twenty20 cricket, because you don’t want the batsman knowing that every ball is going to be full," he said.

Image: Former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson

Photograph: Reuters

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