IND vs SL: "Virat Kohli’s Role Is Very Important" - Gautam Gambhir Feels Indian Veteran's Experience Will Be Key To Success In 2023 ODI World Cup

With the 2023 ODI World Cup only nine months away, all of the teams’ attention is now focused on selecting the best lineup and outlining each player’s specific role in the competition. Few things are certain for India, and the quest for the remaining ones continues when they take on Sri Lanka at home on Sunday in the series’ final ODI.

With his fourth and likely last World Cup appearance, Virat Kohli will represent India with the greatest experience. And former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has made a significant comment on Kohli’s importance for the World Cup in the Indian squad, given that the team is heavily dependent on young and impact players.

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50 Over Format Is The Only Format Where You Need An Anchor Like Virat Kohli: Gautam Gambhir

When India won their second championship in 2011, Kohli made his ODI World Cup debut. Gambhir, a member of the squad and the top scorer for India in the championship game, thinks Kohli needs to serve as an anchor.

“50 over format is the only format where you need an anchor. You really don’t need someone to anchor the innings in T20 cricket. And Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s experience will be very very important,” he told Star Sports in an interaction.

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Gambhir believes that Kohli’s experience and the importance of his job would increase when India’s team includes more younger players.

“If you have all these impact players and you pick them like Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, let’s not forget that they will be playing their first World Cup and that’s why Virat and Rohit’s experience will be very very important. Now, it needs to be seen how the whole batting lineup revolves around Virat Kohli or around Rohit Sharma,” he added.

“I personally feel in this World Cup, Virat Kohli’s role is very important.”

In the ODI format, Kohli has been in excellent form, scoring back-to-back tonnes. He got 113 against Bangladesh before matching it in the opening ODI against Sri Lanka.

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