Virat Kohli will be one of the most experienced players in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. The former India captain has been playing in the T20 World Cups since the fourth edition, which took place back in 2012.
As of now, he is one of the most decorated players in the history of T20Is and T20 World Cup. Very few batsmen have excelled like him in the shortest format of the game. No player has scored more runs than him in both the T20 World Cup and T20Is.
His record in the ODI World Cup is equally impressive. Only the legendary Sachin Tendulkar has scored more runs than him in the 50-over World Cup. And although Virat Kohli is one of the most decorated batsmen in the history of the game, he admitted that he too was nervous while playing his first World Cup match.
Kohli made his World Cup debut in 2011 during the ODI World Cup. He faced Bangladesh in Dhaka and announced his arrival on the big stage in style. The right-handed batsman scored an impressive century on his World Cup debut to propel India to victory. Speaking to Star Sports, Virat Kohli recalled his first World Cup match and said:
“It was against Bangladesh in Dhaka, my first match, and I was nervous. Yeah, I won’t lie. There’s a different feeling of excitement in the air when you come to a World Cup and I could obviously feel it. I was the youngest member of that team. and I was going to play with all these Indian cricket greats in a World Cup match.”
“For me it was definitely a time where I was a little nervous before the game and definitely the night before I was quite nervous, but that’s also a good sign because your body is preparing you to go into a situation where you are alert.” . “You’re not taking things for granted. I think nervousness helped me be aware, alert and absolutely precise in executing my plans,” he added.
Talking about Virat Kohli’s record in T20 World Cups, he has scored 1141 runs in 27 games so far at an astonishing average of over 81. He also scored 14 fifties in the T20 World Cup. In the ODI World Cup, the Indian star scored 1795 runs with the help of five centuries and 12 half-centuries.
Virat Kohli eyes first T20 World Cup:
While Virat Kohli has done very well in the T20s so far, he is yet to win the title. He was part of the Indian team that won the ODI World Cup in 2011 and would be desperate to win the T20 World Cup this year. He is also in brilliant form and will enter the competition after finishing IPL 2024 as the leading run-scorer.