T20 World Cup | Don’t think it matters to Virat Kohli whether he lifts trophy as a captain or player, says Uthappa

With this tournament being the last T20I competition for Kohli as a captain, many want Team India to win the T20 World Cup 2021 as a tribute to the 32-year-old. Sharing his thoughts on the same, Robin Uthappa believes that winning the trophy is important for Kohli and it does not matter to him whether he wins it as a captain or a player. He also praised Kohli’s captaincy saying he has matured a lot during his captaincy captaincy. 

"What has more value is as a player he still has a long way to go. Knowing Virat, I don't think it matters to him whether he wins as a captain or as a player. He just wants to win a World Cup and I think that's more important. That mindset we should shift in our heads, yes the desire is there. He's been an exceptional captain and grown a lot as time has gone. He's matured a lot into his captaincy and has been exceptional over the last couple of years, especially in Test cricket," Uthappa said on India Today's Salaam Cricket 2021.

"The intent and the desire to go out there and do well for the country will always be there. Even as far as his batting is concerned, I think he's aware that he hasn't scored as consistently as he has set the standard for himself. The benchmark that he's set for himself is so high that he's not lived up to that same standard. But he's not been bad, not been out of sorts at any point. He's still been really good for international level cricket. Just think that he'll go back to the basics and I don't think he's worried about the runs, he's worried about what he can give to the team,” he opined. 

India will give their best to win the second T20 World Cup. The team has won two practice matches against Australia and England and will be looking forward to starting the tournament on a winning note when they meet Pakistan on Sunday.