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Virat Kohli steps up on big occasions: Brett Lee lists reasons why winning WTC final 'means a lot' to India captain
On being asked how much would winning the trophy would mean to Virat Kohli, former Australia pacer Brett Lee said that the India captain would be eager to perform in the big match.
If there has one criticism that has been held up against Virat Kohli's captaincy reign over the years, it is his inability to win an ICC tournament so far. Before Kohli, under MS Dhoni, India had won three ICC titles in six years -- the 2007 T20I World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy. But since Kohli took over the captaincy in 2017, India are yet to win a major ICC trophy.
The Kohli-led Indian team lost the Champions Trophy final in 2017 and then went on to finish as the semifinalists in the 2019 ODI World Cup, losing to New Zealand.
Now, Kohli has a chance to win his first ICC trophy - the inaugural World Test Championship trophy, as India face Kane Williamson's New Zealand. On being asked how much would winning the trophy would mean to Virat Kohli, former Australia pacer Brett Lee said that the India captain would be eager to perform in the big match.
"Both captains (Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson) would want to raise a trophy at the end. In terms of the Indian skipper, Kohli, he is such a dynamic player, such a great influencer for the team, world-class batter," Brett Lee said in an ICC press release.
"We know that that's a given. But I think that with his emphasis on how important Test cricket is to him, and his team, and his nation, it is going to weigh in very heavily on him and that will improve his performance. We know that Kohli steps up on the big occasions.
"And, as you mentioned, he wants to see his side be the first winners of the ICC World Test Championship. It means a lot to him. And I think that will be the talk.
"Once everything is said and done, once the preparations are done, when they arrive there when the quarantine is done, just before they walk out, I think that will be the last comment - Let us enjoy it but let us become the first side to ever to win this ICC World Test Championship," Lee signed off.
