'We'll never see or hear from you again': How Virat Kohli left Netherlands' WC star red-faced over brutal 2011 remark

Over the years, many critics have gladly accepted their wrong predictions on Kohli, and among them is a Netherlands star, who is part of the World Cup in India.

Virat Kohli's career has been defined by giving it back to his critics in top-class fashion. It happened at the very start of his career, post that infamous 2014 tour and as late as the Covid phase when he underwent a century drought across formats for about three years. But each time Kohli bounced back supremely, breaking new records and scripting history, as he constantly re-established himself as a modern-era legend. Over the years, many critics have gladly accepted their wrong predictions as well, and among them is a veteran Netherlands cricket star, who is presently part of the ongoing 2023 ODI World Cup in India.

Virat Kohli has left Netherlands' World Cup star embarrassed over a wrong prediction made back in the 2011 tournament in India

Only one player from the present Netherlands side has faced Kohli in an international match. 39-year-old Wesley Barresi was part of the 2011 squad that had travelled to India for the World Cup. On March 9, Netherlands went up against the host nation it was their only second meeting in international cricket and first in eight years.

During the match in Delhi, Barresi had given a send-off to Kohli after the then soon-to-be star batter was dismissed for 12 in India's chase of 190. It was bit of a stumble that India incurred, going from 80 for 1 to 99 for four, leaving Netherlands side a bit fired up and in the heat of the moment, Barresi, in conversation with Cricbuzz, recalled telling Kohli: "We'll never see or hear from you again."

12 years later, as he looks back at that incident, Barresi could only see the funny side to it as he admitted to have made a wrong prediction on Kohli, who now stands on the verge of breaking Sachin Tendulkar's ODI tally of most centuries.

"Maybe I got slightly cocky that night, but looking at that Indian team, they had superstars galore, and Kohli was the youngster, the timing was perfect to hand out a bit of stick. He certainly proved us wrong," he said.

"It was all part of the moment, and we were fired up. We had them on the ropes, they were three or four down, so we felt like we were in the game a little. It was an excellent opportunity to knock India over in India. The atmosphere and everything that was going on spurred us on a bit, and we might have gotten ahead of ourselves," he added.

The glimmer of hope for the Netherlands side in that 2011 World Cup tie was eventually crushed by Yuvraj Singh, who scored an unbeaten 51 off 73 to wrap up the chase with 81 balls remaining.

Despite the result not going in favour of the visitors, Barresi recalled the match as a fond memory. He said: "The stadium was completely packed and painted blue everywhere. I just remember standing behind the stumps and seeing Sachin Tendulkar right in front of me."

A month later, Netherlands are slated to face India in Bengaluru in what will be the final league game of the ongoing tournament.