“For 21 years, Sachin Tendulkar has carried the nation’s burden. It was time we carried him, “said Virat Kohli after India’s MS Dhoni-led side ended a 28-year wait to win the ODI World Cup. They defeated Sri Lanka in the final of the 2011 ODI World Cup in Mumbai. Kohli was only 22 years old at the time, but he had already demonstrated signs of becoming a future leader.
On April 2, 2011, the wait was over. Sachin Tendulkar finally got his hands on the coveted trophy in his sixth edition, the most by any player. Others on the team included Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, and Zaheer Khan, all of whom were playing in their third World Cup. The team included players such as Gautam Gambhir, S Sreesanth, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, and Ravichandran Ashwin, but the youngest member was Virat Kohli. This was his first ICC tournament in any format, and he won on the first try.
In a podcast with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the franchise for which Kohli plays in the IPL, Kohli recalled that fateful day, saying he did not expect to be selected for the World Cup. “I was fortunate to be a part of that team, and what led to my selection was also incredible because I had a run of great scores and ended up on the team. It was not something I expected to happen. When everything falls into place. If I’m not mistaken, Sachin Tendulkar was competing in his sixth World Cup. That is the one he won. And since it was my first time, I ended up on the winning side “He stated.
A few years later, Kohli was a member of the Champions Trophy-winning side in 2013, but he has yet to win an ICC tournament as a player or captain since then. Kohli, on the other hand, is unconcerned. “I’m not bothered by the fact that my trophy cabinet is overflowing. That has always been a byproduct of your level of discipline “He stated.
The prolific right-hander remains India’s most successful Test captain. If the ICC trophy is taken out of the equation, his white-ball record as captain is also stellar. Kohli is well aware of this. He reminded those who called him a “failed captain” that he has built a culture in the Indian team that takes years to develop.
“You play to win tournaments, but that isn’t the only reason you play. To be honest, much was made of it. I captained the Champions Trophy in 2017, captained the 2019 World Cup, Test Championship in 2021 and we failed to qualify for the semi-finals in the 2021 T20 World Cup. We made the finals of the 2017 Champions Trophy, the World Cup semi-finals (2019), and the WTC final, but I was regarded as a failed captain.
I never viewed myself in that light. What we accomplished as a team, and the cultural change that occurred will always be a source of pride for me. A tournament lasts for a short time, whereas culture lasts for a long time. That requires consistency, which requires more character than winning a tournament. I won the World Cup as a player and the Champions Trophy as a coach. I was a member of a team that won five Tests. There have been individuals who have never won a World Cup.
