It has been a decade since India won any ICC tournament. India won the ICC Champions Trophy in the year 2013 under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni which was the last celebrated moment for the Indian Cricket Team in any ICC event. After that India reached the finals of the T20 World Cup in 2014 and then the finals of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in which they lost to Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively. They lost to New Zealand in the 2019 ODI World Cup in the important semifinal game.
Now India has a great chance to convert those small journeys into a big one as the 2023 ODI World Cup is being played in India only. Last time, during the 2011 World Cup, India won the tournament and dedicated it to Sachin Tendulkar who was playing his last ICC tournament. It was Tendulkar’s sixth attempt when he was fortunate to be part of the team winning an ICC title.
Meanwhile, the former Indian opener Virender Sehwag opines that as the tournament makes a comeback to India, the Indian team must put forth their all efforts and win the World Cup for Kohli, the way the 2011 World Cup was won for Sachin Tendulkar.
While speaking about the scheduled launch of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, Sehwag said, “We played that World Cup for Tendulkar. If we won the World Cup, it would have been a great exit for Sachin paaji. Virat Kohli is the same now. Everybody will look to win the World Cup for him. He always gives more than 100 percent.”
He further added, “I think Virat Kohli is also looking forward to this World Cup. 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.”
Team India will start their World Cup campaign against the five-time champions Australia on October 8 in Chennai.
