India skipper Virat Kohli said that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 will be a big focus for the team and they will use the next 12 months to place temselves in the best possible position to compete for another major ICC trophy.
“The T20 World Cup in 2020 is a big focus for us, and it’s important that we use the next 12 months to place ourselves in the best possible position to compete for another major ICC trophy,” International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted Kohli as saying.
Virat Kohli also said that it will be an honour for the swashbuckling batsman to become the second Indian captain to lift the T20 World Cup trophy after MS Dhoni, under whose leadership India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.
“India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 when the format was new and the future a bit unknown. Since then, T20 cricket has truly come of age and it would be an honour to be the second Indian captain to lift the T20 World Cup trophy, and hopefully the third if the Indian women can win it earlier in 2020. I hope to see more of that when we come back to Australia next year,” Kohli said.
Under Kohli’s leadership, India has failed to win any ICC tournament as they were beaten by Pakistan in the finals of Champions Trophy 2017 and faced a semifinal defeat against New Zealand by 18 runs in 2019 Cricket World Cup. Also, in the last edition of the T20 World Cup in 2016, India lost to West Indies in the semifinal.
Kohli believes that the players are motivated for the T20 World Cup and will perform their duties when picked for the squad.
“Our players will be really motivated to take their opportunities when they get selected for T20I matches to put themselves forward for the T20 World Cup, as we want to have a settled team combination by the time we get to Australia,” Kohli said.
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