Dhaka, Feb 18: India middle-order batsman Virat Kohli admitted this week that being part of an event like the ICC Cricket World Cup is something really special.
Speaking on the ICC Cricket World Radio Show this week, Kohli said, “To be part of the India squad for the Cricket World Cup is hugely exciting, it's a dream to play in a world cup, it's a privileged tournament, it's the biggest tournament there is and I don't think I can express how excited I am to be part of the India squad for this event.”
“This event is about the best cricket playing nations coming together for one tournament, the crown means you're the best out of all of them, it means you're the best out of all those top teams. The whole world is watching and to win it as a team would be an amazing achievement,” he added.
Kohli participated on the show alongside Kumar Sangakkara, Graeme Smith and Daniel Vettori as the four of them looked ahead to the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
Sangakkara, speaking on how much winning the cricket world cup would mean to him, said, “To win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 would mean everything to me, simply to play in a World Cup final would be fantastic. It's not about the past or the future, it's about the isolated moment in time which is the ICC Cricket World Cup”.
“It's about giving everything to this one goal, our hearts, souls, bodies everything to win it. As a captain it means the same, to win it would be fantastic, it would make me part of a wonderful team if we did win,” the Sri Lanka captain added.
Joining Kohli and Sangakkara was South Africa captain Smith who talked about the importance of a winning mentality.
"It's important to have a winning mindset for this tournament, especially when there are four or five teams who could win this event. It's crucial to think like winners, we'd love to get our hands on a World Cup, it's important to have that mindset and give yourself the best opportunity to win the World Cup.
"I think the sub-continent is something South Africa have embraced, the fanfare, the different style of wickets, it's about embracing the sub-continent and its different cultures. Embracing the cultures here is something that I think we as South Africans are able to do especially well as we're such a multi-cultural nation and team,” Smith said.
India play Bangladesh in the first game of the 2011 ICC World Cup at Mirpur on February 19.
