Will Virat Kohli play the 2027 ODI World Cup? This question has been on the mind of every cricket fan in the country. While the former India skipper has already drawn curtains on his Test and T20I career, his future in the 50-over format remains uncertain. Kohli, who was named the Man of the Tournament in the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, has not opened on whether he would participate in the forthcoming edition of the quadrennial tournament. However, in a recent podcast with Mayanti Langer, Kohli did reveal his plans, but it comes with a condition.
The legendary Indian batter revealed that he wants to play the ODI World Cup but only on one condition that is not having to ‘prove anything’ to anyone. “My perspective is very clear. If I can add value to the environment that I’m a part of, and the environment feels like I can add value, I’ll be seen. If I’m made to feel like I need to prove my worth and my value, I’m not in that space, and because I’m being honest to my preparation, I’m being honest to how I approach the game," Kohli told Langer.
If I have to prove my worth and value, that place is not meant to be for me: Virat Kohli
Not only this, but Kohli added that he works as hard as the other players and is ready to put in his everything for the team. However, he feels that if he has to prove his worth to anyone after all of it, that place is not meant for him. “When I arrive to play, I put my head down, I work as hard, if not harder than anyone else, and I play the game in the right way. You want me to run boundary to boundary for 40 overs in an ODI game? I will do that without a complaint, because I prepare accordingly.”
“I prepare for the fact that I will feel 50 overs every ball like it’s the last ball I’m going to play in my career, and I will back that way, and I will run between the wickets that, and I will do everything possible for the team after operating like this,” Kohli told Langer.
“If I have to be in a place where I have to prove my worth and value, that place is not meant to be for me. And I am very clear in my head from that perspective,” he added.
