Virat Kohli will have a good chance of winning his maiden ICC trophy as captain: David Gower

With the T20 World Cup 2021 being just around the corner, all the teams would be busy finalizing their plans and strategies. The action will get underway on October 17 with matches taking place in UAE and Oman. Having done well in the shortest international format lately, India are touted one of the favourites to competition and it would be interesting to how the competition unfolds for them.

The tournament is important from Virat Kohli’s point of view as well as he will step down as India’s T20I captain after the conclusion of the competition. Also, he’s yet to win an ICC title as captain. Hence, this is his only chance of lifting the T20 World Cup title while leading the national team.  Meanwhile, former England captain David Gower feels Kohli will have a good chance of tasting glory with India having a strong team.

“Virat will have a good chance of winning his maiden ICC trophy. India is a good side. India probably will be favourites. You can be a great team, you can be a winning team, but if you make a mistake at the wrong time, you might still not win the competition,” Gower told TimesofIndia.com.

Virat Kohli’s India probably will be favourites: David Gower

“So, let’s assume for instance that you make a mistake. You can lose by one run and you can lose by 20 runs. There’s no doubt that India will be very very competitive,” he added. Meanwhile, India will be confident heading to the tournament as they have done well in this format since the last few years.

In late 2020, the Men in Blue defeated Australia 2-1 in their home soil. The Virat Kohli-led side even got the better of England 3-2 in the home T20 series earlier this year. Although a 1-2 defeat against Sri Lanka dented their record a bit, a second-stringed Indian team featured in that series. Hence, all opposition teams must buckle up.

Captain Kohli, the highest run-getter in T20 cricket, will certainly be instrumental in taking India to the title. He has also done exceptionally well in the previous editions of the competition. The talismanic cricketer has played 16 matches (2012, 2014, and 2016 editions) and scored 777 runs at an average of 86.33. He has 9 half-centuries in the mega event.