Virat Kohli is all set to become the first Indian player to play in the most (4) semi-final matches in World Cup history.
The first semi-final of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 cricket series in India will be held on November 15 in Mumbai to decide the new champion of international cricket.
At the end of the league round, India, led by Rohit Sharma, who topped the points table, and New Zealand, led by Kane Williamson, who placed 4th, will face each other.
New Zealand, who have mostly defeated India in ICC series including the last 2019 World Cup semi-final, are going to show their full potential and fight to win the tournament. On the other hand, as all the players are in good form at the moment, India will go into the field hoping to win this match and become the first team to reach the final, just like they defeated New Zealand in the league round at home.
Virat Kohli, who will enter the tournament in that manner, is going to create a great record of becoming the first Indian player to play in the most (4) semi-final matches in the history of the World Cup. That is, he played against Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup semi-final and played against Australia in the 2015 World Cup semi-final.
He then captained the 2019 World Cup semi-final against the same New Zealand and is now set to play again against the same team in the 2023 World Cup semi-final. The previous record was held by legends Sachin Tendulkar (1996, 2003, 2011) and MS Dhoni (2011, 2015, 2019) who played in 3 World Cup semi-finals each.
However, it can be said that Virat Kohli has never performed well as a batsman in these semi-finals. In other words, he scored only 24 runs against Australia in the 2011 World Cup quarter-final, 9 runs against Pakistan in the semi-final, and 35 runs against Sri Lanka in the final.
Similarly, he scored only 1 run against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-final and has not scored a single half-century in the 6 knockout matches he has played in ODI World Cups so far. So it is everyone’s wish that he who is celebrated as King by his fans will wipe this shame this time and make India win.
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