After 2011, India will again be hosting the ODI World Cup starting on October 5. The Rohit Sharma-led hosts will start their campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai and will face Pakistan on October 15. The tournament is a great chance for India to end its title drought in ICC events. Since 2013, the Indian cricket team has not won any ICC event. For stars like Rohit, Virat Kohli and others, the 2023 World Cup presents a great opportunity to emulate what the MS Dhoni-led India achieved at home at the 2011 edition by winning the marquee event. Kohli was part of that campaign and celebrated the triumph in a unique fashion as he lifted Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders.

On the famous visual of Virat Kohli lifting Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders and taking him around the Wankhede Stadium, Sehwag gave an interesting reason.

“Because we rejected, Sachin was so heavy, we couldn’t lift him. We were old. We have shoulder injuries and MS had knee problems, somebody else had other problems. We gave the burden to the youngsters. You go and pick up Sachin Tendulkar and give him a round. That’s why it was Virat Kohli,” Sehwag said with a smile on his face at the ICC 2023 World Cup fixture event on Tuesday.

The Indian team led by Rohit Sharma will be the most travelled team among top contenders in the upcoming ODI World Cup, covering a distance of approximately 8400 km while crisscrossing nine cities for nine league games in 34 days.

In case India reaches semi-final and then the final, the distance covered would be close to 9700 km for 11 games in 42 days.

While 8400 kms in 34 days might not seem a lot, considering that Indian players will finish their games around 11 pm and will have a flight to catch every third day, it indeed becomes very tiresome after gruelling 100 over games.

With PTI inputs