Virat Kohli reveals how India’s 2007 T20 World Cup win motivated him to perform at highest level

Team India skipper Virat Kohli ahead of his first and the last T20 World Cup as a captain remembered the team’s win in the 2007 World T20 tournament saying that he followed it keenly and it inspired and motivated him to perform at the highest level.

Kohli mentioned that it was a remarkable achievement for a young captain, MS Dhoni who was leading an even younger team as they were playing without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.

In a pre-tournament chat with the press, Kohli said, “It had a huge impact (on my career). I would not say that (India’s victory) was unexpected but no one really knew a lot about the T20 format back in the day. After the T20 World Cup win, the emergence of IPL was something that changed the game completely.”

BCCI named Dhoni captain in all the formats only two months before the tournament, which surprised many but the inspirational leader went on to become one of the greatest leaders the game has ever seen.

Talking about Dhoni and what that win did to T20 cricket in India, Kohli said, “It was a remarkable achievement by a young leader leading an even younger team.

“But that World Cup we fondly remember; keenly watching this young Indian team achieving things at the world stage. Everyone thought it was (just) T20 cricket, initially, but then, we understood the impact of that win a few years down the line when the format became what it is today.

“For a young team to achieve what they did was very special, it was inspirational. We saw a lot of guys taking the field and making impact performances and what did for a youngster like me was give me extra motivation and belief I could also perform at the highest level at such a young age,” he added.

Kohli will be hoping to recreate the 2007 team’s success and end his captaincy in T20I cricket for India on a high.