Legendary South African batsman AB de Villiers believes India have what it takes to win the World Cup 2023 at home.
But, the former Protea skipper adds, for that Virat Kohli must have a great time at the tournament.
Virat Kohli will once again be carrying huge expectations in what is likely to be his last ODI World Cup come the October 5.
India have been knocked out in the semi-finals of the last two ODI World Cups – by Australia in 2015 and by New Zealand in 2019.
A great friend of Kohli’s and someone who has played and observed the Delhi cricketer for a long time, de Villiers reckons it will be only on Virat Kohli’s shoulders whether India end their decade-long ICC title drought or not.
The former RCB cricketer opined that Virat Kohli’s success at the world event is necessary for India to be able to lift the trophy on November 19 in Ahmedabad.
“India have a great chance to win the 2023 World Cup if Virat Kohli does what he does,” AB de Villiers was quoted as saying.
Virat Kohli, the GOAT ODI batsman?
Virat Kohli has amassed 12898 ODI runs – only four batsmen have more ODI runs than him – at a terrific average of 57 – none of the top 10 ODI run-scorers have an average of over 50 except for Virat Kohli – and he’s notched up 46 centuries in the format – only 3 less than Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 49 ODI hundreds.
Virat Kohli also has brilliant numbers in ODI World Cups: he hit his first century in ODI World Cup in his first match in the tournament in 2011, against Bangladesh, and has only gone upwards from there on.
In 26 matches in three ODI World Cups that he’s played in, Virat Kohli has scored 1030 runs at an average of 46 with 2 centuries – the second one against Pakistan in the 2015 World Cup – and 6 fifties.
