"Very few players will have two 50-over World Cup medals" - Gautam Gambhir says Virat Kohli has a huge role in ODIs
Gautam Gambhir feels Virat Kohli has a significant role for India in ODI cricket and believes the modern batting great will be keen to win his second World Cup trophy later this year.
Kohli has been rested for the ongoing three-match T20I series between India and Sri Lanka. However, the Indian batting mainstay will be back for the subsequent ODI series against the same opponents.
During a discussion on the Star Sports show 'Cricket ka Mahakumbh', Gambhir was asked whether Kohli would want to be a player with a very important contribution to a World Cup win, to which he replied affirmatively:
"There are very few players who get so many chances to play World Cups. Yusuf (Pathan) and I have played only one 50-over World Cup. This will be Virat Kohli's fourth World Cup. There cannot be a bigger achievement than having two 50-over World Cup medals in your home. Very few players will have two 50-over World Cup medals."
The former Indian opener highlighted that the number of World Cup wins is the best yardstick to measure a player's achievements, observing:
"Individual records are important, the number of runs you score gives you immense happiness at the end of your career, but if you ask any player, how many World Cups you have won is the parameter of how much you have achieved."
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No Indian player has won two ODI World Cups. Ravichandran Ashwin is the only other member of the 2011 World Cup-winning team who might have a chance to be a part of India's squad for the 50-over extravaganza later this year.
"Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's experience will remain very important" - Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir was also asked if Kohli still has a huge role in ODIs, to which he responded:
"50-over format - absolutely, because 50-over format is the one format where you need an anchor. You probably don't need to anchor that much in the T20 format, and Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's experience will remain very important."
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Kohli and Rohit Sharma will have a huge role to play in guiding World Cup newbies like Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer, stating:
"If you have impactful players - if you select Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer - it is the first World Cup for all of them. So Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's experience will be very important, that how the entire batting lineup bats around them. I believe in this format Virat Kohli's role is very important, more than T20 and Test cricket."
Kris Srikkanth said - "What Gautam Gambhir did in 2011 ODI World Cup, Virat Kohli will do in 2023 ODI World Cup". (On Star Sports)
Kohli had an underwhelming 2022 in ODI cricket. The modern run machine managed just 302 runs at a below-par average of 27.45 in 11 games despite scoring a century in the final ODI against Bangladesh. He will hope to be back at his consistent best heading into the World Cup.