Over the course of their four-month tour of duty in Australia, India’s cricketers have lost two Tests, drawn two more and suffered losses to their hosts in a one-day international and even a World Cup warm-up game.

But in an interview with less than 48 hours before his team’s sudden-death World Cup semi-final in Sydney, India’s star batsman and chief on-field aggressor Virat Kohli has confirmed there could be no more perfect time to break that sequence.

By defeating the Australians on their home turf to not only knock them out of world cricket’s glittering 50-over showpiece but to carry India within a game of historic back-to-back World Cup triumphs.

“There couldn’t be a better time for us,” Kohli said, with just a hint of that mischievous smile that has so enchanted his fans and infuriated those desperate to get under his skin.

“It’s an opportunity for us to do justice to the way we’ve played so far in Australia, and we haven’t had the results.”

Kohli, who kick-started the remarkable revival the defending world champions have enjoyed since the World Cup began by crafting a timeless century in their opening fixture against arch-rivals Pakistan, believes that results so not convey the full story of their lengthy Australian sojourn.

In pushing Australia deep into the final day of the first Test in Adelaide under his captaincy with M S Dhoni sidelined through injury, Kohli provided a telling snapshot of how cricket’s powerhouse will approach their game under his captaincy now that Dhoni has quit the Test arena.

But as they gathered in Adelaide to launch their World Cup defence, which Kohli is happy to point out many critics did not believe would reach the quarter-final stage, the 15-man squad got together and pledged to correct the mistakes that had left them winless after the Tests and the subsequent tri-series.

The area where improvement was most sorely needed was identified as the India’s bowling.

In eight Test innings, they had managed to bowl out the Australians just twice and had failed to achieve it at all during four Carlton Mid Tri-Series ODIs against the same opponent as well as England.

In seven World Cup games to date, India’s revitalised attack has captured 70 wickets – they have captured all 10 wickets in every game they have played.

“We felt as a group that we need to step up and make corrections now,” Kohli said tonight of the sense of urgency that his teammates embraced as their World Cup began.

“We don’t really have too much time because we can’t afford to go into the World Cup thinking ‘okay fine, we have things to work on but we can do that over the period of time’.

“So we immediately went to work, wrote things down, what are the things we need to improve on.

“And the way the bowlers have reacted and the way they have performed with the composure and the confidence and the aggression all together, it’s been wonderful to watch.

“So we expect the bowlers to step up if you want to beat quality sides in the world and the way they have done this in this World Cup has been commendable.

“We’ve played the right kind of cricket and the difference now is how our bowling attack has come into play in this World Cup taking 70 wickets in seven games.

“That’s probably been the difference, and if we continue to do that we have a great chance come game day.”

That day is Thursday, when a berth in the World Cup Final is up for grabs.