The former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag who was known for his explosive batting style attended the event in which the complete schedule of ICC ODI World Cup 2023 was released and he also shared some interesting stories from the 2011 ODI World Cup which India won under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
As per Virender Sehwag, everyone was saying that a host nation has never won the World Cup, everybody had their own superstitions and MS Dhoni chose to have khichdi only as he said that even if he is not able to score runs, at least the team keeps winning matches.
Virender Sehwag said, "MS Dhoni ate only khichdi throughout the 2011 World Cup. Everyone was being superstitious for the event". pic.twitter.com/LsF6IAFH5T
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 27, 2023
Viru paaji also talked about his World Cup journey which was full of ups and downs, he said that he represented the country in three world cups, in one they lost the finals, in another they won the finals and in the other, the team was knocked out from the group stage.
ODI World Cup 2023 will start from 5 October and the final of the tournament will be played on 19 November 2023. Total 10 teams will be clashing against each other for lifting the trophy, 8 teams have already qualified and the names of the remaining two teams will be known to us by the end of the Qualifier tournament which is being played in Zimbabwe.
Virender Sehwag also talked about Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli as he felt that the current team would play to win the World Cup for Virat Kohli just like they did it for Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar is undoubtedly one of the greatest cricketers of all times and it won’t be wrong to say that he carried the burden of Indian cricket for a very long time on his shoulders. He has numerous records to his name and there was a time when people felt that there can be no one who will replace the legendary former Indian cricketer. However, Virat Kohli turned out be the most suitable successor of Sachin Tendulkar; he broke many records of Little Master and in the present scenario, he is the only one who can break the record of maximum international centuries (100) which is in the name of Sachin Tendulkar.
When India won the World Cup 2011, both Sachin and Virat were part of the team, while the former was 38 yrs old, the latter was 23 years old. Virat even went on to lead the Indian team but he was not able to make his team win an ICC trophy and the same thing happened in the IPL as his team Royal Challengers Bangalore is still waiting to win their first IPL title.
Though Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar are completely opposite when it comes to attitude, their on-field conduct and behaviour but Virender Sehwag feels that there are many similarities in both of them and Virat Kohli is the one now.
Viru paaji stated that they told Sachin Tendulkar that 2011 would be his last World Cup, however the same thing they said to him in 2003 and 2007 as well. As per Sehwag, Sachin told him that he will retire after him (Viru) and it happened in reality as well. Virender Sehwag said that they played 2011 World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar as they wanted to give him a great exit.
The Nawab of Najafgarh further says that he feels Virat is in Sachin Tendulkar’s shoes now because of the manner in which he plays, motivates others, talks, etc. and this team will like to win the World Cup for him. The Sultan of Multan adds that whenever a series or a tournament is played, Virat tries to ensure that he competes with the younger players and defeats them just like Sachin Tendulkar used to do. Viru goes on to say that in 2003 and 2011 World Cups, Sachin Tendulkar scored more runs than younger players and he feels that Kohli will also do the same.
Well, every Indian cricket fan wants to see Virat Kohli holding the World Cup trophy so we also agree with Virender Sehwag.
