Jacob Duffy Praises Virat Kohli as Indian Team Arrives in New Zealand

Royal Challengers Bengaluru pace bowler Jacob Duffy has described Virat Kohli as a religious figure and a megastar in India. Duffy ran into Kohli in the gym after the Indian ODI team reached New Zealand and noted that Kohli was very down-to-earth and welcomed overseas players to RCB. Duffy shared that bowling to Kohli in the nets was a great experience since Kohli was always the first batter while Duffy was the first bowler. Kohli has scored 15,109 runs in the 50-over format, trailing only Sachin Tendulkar, who holds 18,426 runs on the all-time top-scorer list.

2027 World Cup Goals

Kohli has confirmed that the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa and Zimbabwe will be his final one for India. He told broadcaster JioStar that playing in that tournament is his main motivation and his goal is to win the trophy. Kohli won the ODI World Cup at home in 2011 and reached the final in 2023, where India lost to Australia. The upcoming tournament will mark Kohli's fifth ODI World Cup appearance. He noted that the intensity of a 50-over World Cup is massive because players must maintain a Twenty20 level of intensity across roughly ten matches in foreign conditions.

Context

Virat Kohli remains one of the most prominent figures in international cricket with a long list of batting records. Major tournaments like the ODI World Cup require players to maintain peak physical and mental form over several weeks of intense competition.