Dubai, Feb 19: Renowned Indian cricketer Virat Kohli has expressed his enthusiasm for the Champions Trophy format, highlighting its requirement for all eight participating teams to perform at their best from the outset.
This marks the tournament’s first occurrence since 2017, when India faced defeat in the final against Pakistan.
India will kick off their campaign against Bangladesh on Thursday.
“This tournament is taking place after a significant gap, and I have always appreciated its structure. It symbolizes consistency since qualifying necessitates being in the top 8 of the rankings. The level of competition is consistently high,” Kohli remarked during an interview with Star Sports.
Kohli, who has competed in three editions of the 50-over tournament in 2009, 2013 (when India emerged victorious), and 2017, compared it to the fast-paced nature of the T20 World Cup.
“In ODIs, it generates the kind of pressure seen in the T20 World Cup. There you also face three or four matches in the league stage. A poor start puts you under immediate pressure. The stakes are high from the first game, and that’s one of the things I enjoy; you must be on top of your game from the very beginning,” stated the former captain of India.
India’s subsequent league matches will be against Pakistan on February 23 and New Zealand on March 2. Although Pakistan is the tournament host, India will play all their matches in Dubai as part of a hybrid model.
Kohli is looking to score heavily in this tournament following a challenging Test series in Australia. He returned to form in the preceding ODI series against England, scoring a half-century in the last match in Ahmedabad. (PTI)
