Virat Kohli and Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium: A love affair he wants to experience again

“I was 23 at that time. I did not probably have an idea of the expectations from the senior players. But now being a senior myself now, I can understand they went through and how much special it is to play a home World Cup and and how excited people are going to be. It is an experience everyone wants to have in their career and and I am getting to do it twice. I am really really happy ,” Kohli told ICC.

Personally, Kohli said, he is looking forward to playing in Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium again because of the fond memories of the 2011 finals. In the 2011 World Cup finals, India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets, supported by MS Dhoni’s unbeaten knock of 91 off 79 balls. Kohli had scored 35 runs in that match. Dhoni was awarded the man of the match while Yuvraj Singh was the man of the tournament. Yuvraj had scored over 350 runs in the tournament and had also taken 15 wickets.

“Personally, I’m looking forward to playing in Mumbai in this World Cup. It’ll be great to experience that atmosphere again,” he said.

Since winning the 2011 World Cup, India have won only one ICC event – the 2013 Champions Trophy – and their wait for lifting a trophy in another global event has now lasted more than a decade.

India will begin their 2023 campaign with a match against Australia on October 8 in Chennai. Arch-rivals India and Pakistan square off at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan, Virat Kohli was the man of the match after he had scored 107, off 126 balls. India won the match by 76 runs.Mumbai, which had hosted the finals of 2011 World Cup, will host the first semifinal match on November 15 including England vs South Africa on October 21, South Africa vs Bangladesh on October 24, India vs Qualifier on 2 November 2, and Australia vs Afghanistan on November 7.”Cricket blends perfectly into the fabric of the culture of our country. It is literally is part of people’s life. They played the game at some time in their life. It is an honour to play for India,” Kohli said.