New Delhi, May 29: He is addressed today as a King of the game. He is tipped to topple Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100 centuries. He is one of the all time great players of the game of cricket.
But Virat Kohli too admitted that he too was nervous before his debut World Cup match in 2011 against Bangladesh.
Today, Kohli is the global face of Indian cricket and will be ready to take on the new challenge that the 2024 T20 World Cup will bring with it. As part of the build up to the upcoming competition, Kohli talked about how he felt before making his World Cup debut against Bangladesh in the 2011 World Cup.
The star Indian batter certainly made his debut in style as he stitched on a 203-run partnership with Virender Sehwag on his way to becoming the first and only Indian to score a century on his World Cup debut. He scored 100* runs in 83 deliveries and took Team India’s score to 370 which ultimately led to a 87 run victory.
“It was against Bangladesh in Dhaka, my first game and I was nervous. Yes, I will not lie. There is a different sense of excitement in the air when you come for a World Cup and I could obviously sense that. I was the youngest member of that team and I was getting to play with all these greats of Indian cricket in a World Cup game.
"For me it was definitely a moment where I was a bit nervous heading into the game and definitely the night before I was quite nervous but that is a good sign as well because your body is preparing you to enter a situation where you’re alert, you’re not taking things for granted. I think that nervousness helped me to be aware, be alert and be absolutely precise in the execution of my plans,” said Kohli on Star Sports.
The former Indian skipper has been one of the best batsmen in all formats but his T20 World Cup exploits are second to none. He is the leading run scorer in the history of the tournament having scored 1141 runs in 25 innings taking his average to be an unbelievable 81.50.
India will face Bangladesh in a warm-up game on June 1 as a part of their preparation in the T20 World Cup set to be held in the USA and West Indies.
Kohli's honest confession of he too feeling nervous before the World Cup debut match in 2011, may inject some confidence and encouragement to the young Indian players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, who are in the Indian team for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. (With IANS support)
