India now face Australia in five ODIs between March 2 and 13 before their players’ attentions home in on the 2019 IPL, while India’s first World Cup warm-up match is against New Zealand in England on May 23 before the tournament proper commences from May 30.

The India captain, however, wants to be clear on the make-up of his World Cup squad before the launch of the 2019 IPL, which takes place between March 23 and May 12.

Kohli also confirmed that batsman KL Rahul remains a World Cup contender after regaining form. “It augurs really well,” the skipper added. “KL, when he plays well, is operating at a different level I feel. We have seen him do that in the IPL last year and in patches over the last season we played as a team.”