Kohli, also India’s batting mainstay, has captained the team across formats for almost five years, but recently announced his decision to step down from the Twenty20 leadership to better manage his workload. .
Never shy about showing his emotions on the field, the 32-year-old has led India to several successes in bilateral cricket at home and abroad but has never won an ICC trophy as a captain – be it the 2017 Champions Trophy, the 2019 50-over World Cup Or the ICC Test Championship.
“For India, the message…is simple – do it for Virat Kohli,” former India batsman Suresh Raina wrote in the ICC column for the T20 World Cup.
While an ICC trophy has been postponed Kohli As a leader, he will have a wealth of experience to engage with the team mentor Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led India to the inaugural World T20 trophy in 2007 and the 50-over title four years later.
Kohli’s team will also benefit from the experience of playing the Indian Premier League for three weeks in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
Like the ICC event, the popular IPL was also shifted to the UAE due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in India and this allowed the entire Indian squad to adapt to sluggish wickets in the region.
Batting will largely depend on the top three Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Kohli, while the bowling has a dazzling mix of talent in both the spin and pace departments.
The only concern for India will be the fitness of all-rounder Hardik Pandya. His inability to bowl during the recently concluded IPL forced the selectors to replace spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel with pacer Shardul Thakur.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against bitter neighbors Pakistan on Sunday, joining New Zealand, Afghanistan and two unknown qualifiers in Group 2 of the Super 12 stage.
The tournament will also mark the end of Ravi Shastri’s tenure as India’s head coach and the victory in the November 14 final in Dubai could double as a farewell gift to the former all-rounder.
Kohli was confident that future cricketers would take advantage of the work culture he and Shastri had created and that their success went beyond “titles and tournaments”.
Kohli also resigned as the captain of his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, “But, yes, winning an ICC tournament will definitely be a great moment for all of us, as coach and for me as captain.”
“It will be an amazing achievement and we are completely inspired to do so and we will give everything that we have.”
Fact box on Indian team participating in Twenty20 World Cup:
Coach: Ravi Shastri
Highest Ranked Batsman: Virat Kohli (4)
Highest Ranked Bowler: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (11)
best finish: Winner (2007)
Shaft: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh PantIshaan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra JadejaRahul Chahar Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakraborty, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami
.