Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has expressed his desire to see Virat Kohli being carried on shoulders like Sachin Tendulkar if India win the World Cup 2023. The former opener also said that he is hopeful that star Indian batter will end up being the highest run-scorer in the ODI World Cup.
Notably, a young Virat Kohli, along with other players, lifted Sachin Tendulkar on shoulders while carrying him around the ground after winning the World Cup in 2011.
“Cheeku (Kohli) didn’t score a single century in the 2019 World Cup, this year I hope he scores many hundreds and ends up as the leading run-scorer in the tournament. Then, I want him to be carried on the shoulders and get a round of the ground”, Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
In the previous edition, Kohli ended the tournament without a century but amassed 443 runs at an average of 55.37, which included five half-centuries.
“Rohit & Kohli deserve to win World Cup”
Sehwag also lauded Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and talked about his importance for India in ODI cricket and said both Virat and Rohit deserve to win the World Cup.
“These two (Kohli & Rohit) senior players deserve to win the World Cup. Rohit Sharma was so close to getting picked for the 2011 World Cup but missed out. Later he became the Badshah of ODIs, he deserves to win a World Cup trophy because he is a fantastic player”, Sehwag added.
Notably, Virat Kohli was part of the Indian squad, who lifted the World Cup at home in 2011. However, Rohit Sharma missed out on representing India in the same edition.
India will begin their 2023 World Cup campaign against Australia in Chennai on Sunday, October 8. They are currently at Thiruvananthapuram for IND vs NED World Cup warm-up game.
India Squad for Cricket World Cup 2023
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav
WKs: Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul (VC)
Seam all-rounders: Shardul Thakur
Spin all-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin
Seamers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Spinner: Kuldeep Yadav