Win ODI World Cup 2023 for Virat Kohli like 2011 batch did for Tendulkar: Sehwag to Team India
Since winning the 2011 World Cup, in which Virat Kohli participated, India has only won one ICC competition, the 2013 Champions Trophy, and their wait for a trophy in a different major international competition has now extended more than ten years.
FollowFormer Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag on Tuesday urged the Men in Blue to draw inspiration from India's last World Cup triumph and win the forthcoming ODI World Cup 2023 for batting legend Virat Kohli in the same manner as the class of 2011 did for Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. The 50-overs World Cup will begin on October 5 in Ahmedabad with England and New Zealand playing in the opening match, and the final will also be played there on November 19 in the largest cricket stadium in the world - the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, according to the schedule released by the ICC on Tuesday.
Since winning the 2011 World Cup, in which Kohli participated, India has only won one ICC competition, the 2013 Champions Trophy, and their wait for a trophy in a different major international competition has now extended more than ten years.
"We played that World Cup for Tendulkar. We won the World Cup, and it was a great exit for Sachin paaji," Sehwag said during an ICC event to announce the World Cup schedule.
"Virat Kohli is (now) in Sachin Tendulkar's shoes. The way he plays, he talks, he looks after the others and the way he plays cricket with his passion, he is the one now. Everybody is looking to win this World Cup for Virat Kohli," he added.
"Virat Kohli is the same now. Everybody will look to win the World Cup for him. He always gives more than 100 per cent. I think Virat Kohli is also looking (forward) to this World Cup. (About) 100,000 people will watch you at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Virat knows how the pitches will behave. I am sure he will score a lot of runs and he will do his best to win the World Cup for India."
Expectations will be high for them to succeed and end their drought because the nation will be hosting the World Cup later this year over 12 locations, with India appearing in the league stage alone in nine separate stadiums. Sehwag claimed that India are the favourites to defeat Pakistan in their highly anticipated match on October 15 in Ahmedabad because they are significantly better at handling pressure.
Sehwag said, "I feel that now India handles the pressure that is why they win whereas Pakistan have a burden that they haven't won against India. In the 1990s, they were good at dealing with pressure but after 2000, India soak it better.
"If any player says that they don't feel pressure, I don't think it's right. We used to say it too but at the end of the day, we know it's an India versus Pakistan game and emotions run high," he said.
According to Sehwag, players from nations like Australia and England do well when the wickets are good but struggle against spin.
"A player from the subcontinent has a better idea (of playing spin) than someone coming from outside," he said, adding that India and Pakistan could end up playing a final before the final if they meet in the semifinals.
Legendary spinner from Sri Lanka Muttiah Muralitharan concurred with Sehwag that India, England, Australia, and Pakistan may be the favourites for the semifinals because the World Cup will be held in the subcontinent.
"I am looking forward to the India-England match, that will be a tough match. England is playing really well at the moment. India is one of the favourites in my mind because they are playing at home and they know the conditions really well. They know how to win in India," said Muralitharan, adding that Adil Rashid would be his pick as the most successful bowler in the competition," he said.
"The subcontinent teams will be favoured by the wickets, a lot of good spinners are there. Afghanistan's batting is not that great but their spin attack is tremendous. India and Sri Lanka have good spin attacks. In the subcontinent, I always believe there is a chance of two teams from the subcontinent coming into the finals, with the exception of 1987 when England and Australia came (in the final). Other than that, last time two best teams came into the final and the best team won in 2011," he added.
Muralitharan added that a team from the subcontinent "has more chances" of winning the final since the tournament is being held here, which was seconded by Sehwag during the panel discussion.
The legendary spinner admitted that Sri Lanka's current team, which is competing in the CWC Qualifiers in Zimbabwe, is not one of the favourites to win the World Cup, but he added that they would present a stern challenge to their opponents.
"It is unfortunate for a country like us to be playing the qualifiers," said Muralitharan.
"But I think Sri Lanka has a very good talent, they have good spin bowlers and good batsmen. Unfortunately we have not played up to our potential for the last 4-5 years. We had a successful Asia Cup but that is T20 cricket. T20 and 50 overs cricket is totally different. They are doing well in Zimbabwe at the moment. We will be a threat to all the good teams, we are not going to be pushovers. But winning the tournament, I have doubts because there are much better teams but you never know, in 1996 nobody counted us. Still, anything can happen. To win this cup, you need a little bit of luck," he added.
When naming the venues, BCCI secretary Jay Shah stated that the World Cup begins in Guwahati, the "gateway to the Northeast". The warm-up games will be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, and Guwahati.
"India versus Pakistan and the World Cup final will be at the Narendra Modi Stadium, which is the world's largest sports stadium with a capacity of 132,000. We are going to have the semifinals in Kolkata and Mumbai," he said.
"After 12 long years, this ODI World Cup is coming back to India. In 2021, we were the hosts (for T20 World Cup) but due to COVID-19 we held it in Dubai. We are excited to have this tournament back in India," Shah added.
