Dinesh Karthik says that while Virat Kohli is yet to captain India to victory in an ICC tournament, he has been part of the teams that won the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions trophy

HIGHLIGHTS

• Karthik said that Kohli knows what it takes to be part of a title winning team
• Kohli has not won an ICC tournament yet as a captain but has won a World Cup and Champions Trophy
• Karthik also said India can be proud of reaching the final despite rule changes during the WTC

Winning the World Test Championship will mean a lot for Virat Kohli, says veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik. Kohli is yet to win a title in an International Cricket Council (ICC) since becoming captain of the Indian team in all formats in January 2017.

The 32-year-old will lead India out on Friday in the inaugural final of the World Test Championship (WTC) against New Zealand at the Ageas Bowl. “I think it will mean a lot to him. He has won the World Cup in the U-19 format, so he has tasted success in a multi-nation tournament. He was part of a World Cup winning team in 2011. So he knows what it means to be part of winning teams. He is always challenging himself and trying to push Indian cricket to greater heights,” Karthik told Sports Today on eSalaamCricket.

Karthik also said that India can be proud of the fact that they have reached the final despite the parameter for judging a team changing to a percentage of points system before they embarked on their tour of Australia. India went on to win the Test series Down Under before beat England 3-1 at home to advance to the final.

“The WTC is played over two years, so probably that intensity of playing a World Cup is not there. The dynamics are a lot different, but India can proudly say that they have been pushed to the brink in terms of how suddenly the rules and they had to come up with a different approach to what they need to do in terms of reaching the final.