Indian Team has best chance to win 2019 World Cup under Kohli, says Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag believes that the current Indian team will be the firm favourites to win the 2019 World Cup in England and the Australia series later this year. The destructive opener also opened up on their calculative purchased of West Indian hard-hitter Chris Gayle during the auction.
The Men in Blue have been in stupendous form in the limited-overs format under Kohli’s leadership. They finished 2017 on a high as they dominated South Africa in their backyard to clinch the top ODI ranking, making a strong statement ahead of the World Cup next year, which will be played in England, about their strengths. And 2011 World Cup winner, Virender Sehwag has even stated that the Kohli-led army would be the favourites.
"The kind of ODI team we have, we are favourites to win the 2019 World Cup. Don't you believe it? Absolutely (we are favourites)," said Sehwag on Friday in Kolkata on the sidelines of a promotional event ahead of Kings XI Punjab’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders.
One of the biggest advantages this Indian team has been the depth. Not only has it enjoyed the rare luxury of fielding two wrist spinners in the limited-over format, but also four pacers in the longest format. And Sehwag pointed out rightly that India hardly this luxury under the previous era of Sourav Ganguly.
“India boast of the perfect combination in batting and bowling department, which has been a luxury the side never had previously in the Sourav Ganguly era. Despite Zaheer, Nehra, Sreenath and Agarkar’s presence, all four couldn’t play together except the 2003 World Cup. This team has the capability to win a Test series outside India with the kind of bowling and batting we have. We just missed to win the Test series in South Africa or else we could have created history.
"In our days, we had Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra, but these four never played together except in 2003 when we made the final. This team has a lot more capability and can deliver under any conditions," Sehwag said.
Before the ICC extravaganza next year, India would play on the tricky turfs of England and Australia this year where Kohli has a lot to prove. And Sehwag sounded extremely confident of India’s success down under.
When asked if banned duo Steve Smith and David Warner’s absence would help India, Sehwag replied, “It does not matter if they are with the team or not. Even then, we will win."
Chris Gayle’s heroics in IPL this season has been hugely credited to Sehwag’s quick thinking at the mega auctions, where KXIP decided to clamp him up after the hard-hitting West Indian went shockingly unsold on the first day. Even while collecting the MOM award, Gayle, on a lighter note, admitted that Sehwag did a favour to IPL by acquiring him in auction.
Sehwag, in his as usual witty tone tweeted that he calculated it perfectly during the auction. The coach-cum-mentor had believed that Gayle could be a good marketing boost for any franchise. Earlier in another tweet Sehwag wrote, Gayle’s auction price of 2 crores will be worth if he can win Punjab in two matches.
“I've already tweeted it because nobody is a greater entertainer than him. That was a strategy because we had to buy other players also. He would have cost more if he was taken up in the first phase.
“He missed a lot of games (last year) because he had pain in his back. Kohli dropped him also. I was expecting nobody will pick him; he's of my age. If we pick him, he's a good guy to do the marketing. He's fabulous with all the marketing guys, everyone loves Chris Gayle. He was fitting in our group. We bought him for Rs 2 crore; and if he wins us two games, I recover my money. He's a big asset for KXIP now," Sehwag added.
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