Kohli and de Villiers agree: Who keeps calm wins

"Don’t get overexcited."

"Stay relaxed."

Different words with the same message, each relayed by the captain to his team on the eve of the virtual quarterfinal that is India v South Africa in the Champions Trophy 2017. Both will meet at The Oval on Sunday. With sunny skies forecast, only one will go through to the semi-final.

Knowing that the stakes are higher for one match can affect people differently. For Virat Kohli, India’s captain, he “craves games like these”. For AB de Villiers, South Africa’s captain, it’s about being clear in the mind. But the key message both teams want to give out is that they will not let the occasion get to them, they will cut out the extraneous noise, and they will focus only and supremely on the job at hand: beating the other one.

“I think you need to have a good balance of being competitive, being passionate about the game, but at the same time, not getting overexcited,” was Kohli’s take on the eve of the match. “I think the team that treats the game as normal as possible is the team that's in a better position to get the right result.

“A lot of times, teams come in and they want to do something special and end up messing up the game in important situations. The team that can have most composure, I would say, to sum it up, will have a better chance of winning the game tomorrow. That's what I've experienced in the past. You tend to get overexcited, and then you commit errors that can cost the team important runs. Or if you fail to grab all the chances because you're overexcited and that can cost the team, as well. I think composure will be the biggest word for tomorrow.

Much like they had done when singing praises of each other, de Villiers and Kohli seemed to be singing from the same hymn sheet when it came to the question of how a knockout game against a big opponent should be approached. “We're really clear about what's necessary for us, and what's needed for us to go out there and win,” said de Villiers. “I think the guys generally perform better if they are relaxed in their mindsets and not too tense. That's partly my responsibility to make sure there's no panic. It is a must-win game, but we've played quite a few of them in the last 12 to 18 months and we've had a lot of success in those must-win games. So pretty much similar to what we've been doing in the last while, and same kind of approach for tomorrow I think.”

People do yoga or meditation to stay calm. Denied these options on the cricket field, de Villiers just smiles. “It's really important to stay calm, not get overexcited,” he reiterated, almost as if he was reading from Kohli’s notes. “The tendency will be there, because we all live for these kinds of moments. That's why we play cricket, we want to play on the big stage against the big teams and tomorrow is one of those games. It's important for us to make sure we focus on why we've been successful over the last while.

“I felt the guys were really hungry to succeed and unfortunately came unstuck in that last game. So I'm expecting the same kind of intensity and hunger out there tomorrow, but with a relaxed kind of mindset. I think that's really important to remember we are playing a game of cricket, something that we love doing, and to get that smile on our faces out there when we're playing. It's going to be really important and I'll try and lead that from the front.”

For Kohli, in his first ICC tournament as captain, the smiles came naturally when he was asked if this was the biggest match of his captaincy career. “Wasn't the first game the biggest?” he shot back with a laugh. “I mean, you guys said the first was the biggest yet. Against Pakistan you said was the biggest match of my career yet!”

But once the laughs were out of the way, Kohli reiterated a familiar theme. “To me, every game is the same. You win some, you lose some. I never thought against Pakistan was the biggest game of my captaincy career, and I don't think this one is, either. For us as a team, it's a very important game, yes. It’s the same for South Africa as well. Both teams will play with 120 per cent commitment and with full passion and it will be a great game to watch for viewers and for the players to be a part of it as well; you get to test how good you are in situations like these.”

In essence, what it boils down to is no match is bigger than the other. The next match is always the biggest one. And may the calmest team win.