King. Master. GOAT. And now, Soothsayer? There is no shortage of adjectives to describe the Indian captain Virat Kohli, but the last must surprise every reader. But judging by Kohli’s comments before the start of the World Cup 2019 and the way the tournament has progressed since then, the skipper has proven to be nothing short of a cricketing ‘seer.’
During the captains’ press conference right before the World Cup 2019, Kohli was asked about the possibility of teams scoring 500 runs over the following weeks. In his inimitable style, Kohli answered by saying that even though it could be a ‘pretty high scoring’ World Cup, he believed teams would find it difficult to chase even 250 during the latter half of the tournament.
“Yeah, it (World Cup) could be pretty high scoring, but… Back home, we had a press conference, and they asked us this question, but I said, look, 260-270 will be as difficult to chase in a World Cup as chasing 380 or 370. I don’t see many high-scoring games in the tournament’s latter half. Some teams might get on a role initially, but you’ll see 250 defended as well. That’s the kind of pressure the World Cup brings,” Kohli had told reporters before the World Cup began.
About a month later, Kohli’s words ring more accurate than ever. When Sri Lanka successfully defended a mere 201 against Afghanistan in just the 7th match of the World Cup, people dismissed it as an inherent fault of a weak Afghan side. But two games later, when New Zealand huffed and puffed their way to the 245-run target set by Bangladesh, the world was forced to sit up and take notice.
The moment that shook everyone into harking back to Kohli’s words came when Sri Lanka defended 232 against hosts and hot favorites England. The next day, Kohli himself was in the thick of the action as India just about managed to thwart Afghanistan’s pursuit of the 225-run target the Men in Blue set.
In the past week, we have also seen Bangladesh defend 262 against Afghanistan, England fall 64 runs short of the 286-run target against Australia, and India again bundle West Indies for 143 in a chase of 269.
Therefore, Kohli’s prophecy regarding the pressure of World Cup matches is undoubtedly proving to be accurate. We have already seen eight instances of a sub-300 total being defended by various countries so far. After all, only one question remains: Did Kohli predict who will win the World Cup? You’d have to ask the man himself.
