Eight years ago, Virat Kohli was an emerging player alongside legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag in the Indian ODI team. That group of players achieved the memorable feat of winning the 2011 World Cup at home.
In January, this year, Kohli, now established as a legend in Indian cricket and the best batsman in the world currently, led his team to a historic Test series win in Australia, the nation's first in the land down under.
The question is bound to be raised: Which of these two accomplishments Kohli considers bigger? In an interview that he and India head coach Ravi Shastri gave to Cricbuzz, the ace batsman decided to treat them as equally big.
Kohli's view
"I would put the win in Australia at par with the World Cup," was the reply of the current India skipper who led the Test side to the famous 2-1 win against the Aussies earlier this year.
But Virat was also quick to emphasize the pre-eminent position of World Cup in the cricket world. "Look, you cannot place a World Cup win below anything else. It is a global tournament and the significance and the charm of the tournament is something else. It is always going to be the most important tournament in world cricket," the 30-year old added.
However, the difficulty of Tests and the history of the team in Australia made the win in that nation equally important for India skipper. "If you look at the challenges that Test cricket brings, if you look at the fact that we had never ever done something like this in Australia before, then this becomes supremely significant too," he explained.
It may also be assumed that Kohli's view on this issue is also affected by the fact that in 2011, he was a relatively junior member of the team while on the Australian tour of 2018/19, he was not only captaining the side but leading its batting unit. But, he and Shastri also insisted in the interview that putting team above everything is the new mantra of this Indian side.
"I think the big shift in mindset was when from individuals, the focus moved to team culture and they (the players) started relishing a challenge. Take up a challenge and treat it as an opportunity," Shastri asserted.
