India move on from Kohli drama

India will be aiming to swap off-field controversy for on-field success when they take on the West Indies in Friday's Cricket World Cup clash at the WACA Ground.

India's one-day vice-captain Virat Kohli hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons this week when he unleashed a verbal tirade at a journalist in what was an embarrassing case of mistaken identity.

Kohli was angry over an article written about his private life, but he accidentally abused Hindustan Times reporter Jasvinder Sidhu instead of The Indian Express's Sandeep Dwivedi.

An apology was made to Sidhu through a third party, but the journalist was unimpressed and has made a formal complaint to the ICC.

Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin tried his best to sidestep the issue when asked about the incident on Thursday.

"Honestly I do not know what has happened," Ashwin said.

"It's very heartening to see the media at tournaments in huge numbers.

"But this is my take on it: The media has got a very responsible eye of taking cricket back home in a very responsible fashion - taking cricket to the public in the way it needs to be taken.

"There are times when I'm not happy with (some of the stories), but that's my opinion."

West Indies skipper Jason Holder didn't want to get caught up in India's off-field woes.

"You've just made me aware of it. I wasn't really following it. I wasn't aware of any problems," Holder claimed.

"We just need to focus on what's in front of us and focus on our plans."

India sit on top of Pool B following crushing wins over Pakistan, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.

In contrast, the West Indies are battling to secure a quarterfinal berth following a shock loss to Ireland and a 257-run pounding at the hands of South Africa.

Holder returned figures of 1-104 from 10 overs against South Africa, but he's adamant it hasn't dented his spirits.

"I mean it's cricket, it's sport - you have good days and bad days," Holder said.

"I'm not too disheartened about it. That's gone now, it's in the past."

Ashwin flourished with figures of 4-25 against the UAE in last week's win at the WACA.

The 28-year-old hopes he'll enjoy similar success against a hit-and-miss West Indies batting line-up featuring the likes of Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, and Denesh Ramdin.