Kohli In ODI World Cup? What India Can Learn From Messi And Argentina

Back in 2004, after a prolonged battle with drug abuse and heart problems, Diego Maradona was fighting for his life at a Buenos Aires hospital. The Argentine football wizard recovered miraculously before stating that 'he had stared death in the face'.

But when he was still in that nerve-racking battle for every breath in the hospital, newspapers across the world had already started publishing what read like obituaries for one of the greatest footballers who ever lived.

It was then that a well-known British sportswriter analysed how Maradona was different from all other footballing legends, including Pele.

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Regularly subjected to brutal tackles by defenders on poor pitches, Maradona still managed to weave his magic, ghosting past defenders with the ball glued to his left foot.

Emerging from a violent shantytown in Argentina, Maradona became the talismanic figure who led modest teams (Argentina at the World Cup and Napoli in the Italian league) to magical triumphs.

The brilliance of the curly-haired playmaker left the British writer drawing a striking cultural parallel as he wondered whether Rembrandt could have painted in the dark.

Now Virat Kohli's world is far removed from Maradona's. Unlike the 1986 World Cup-winning Argentina captain who later struggled with obesity, Kohli's success is built on his obsession with a healthy lifestyle and rigorous fitness schedule.

At 37, he is still the world's most formidable batter in the 50 overs format - a ruthless run-machine who produces Maradonaesque heroics in tricky chases.

But the former Indian captain was recently at a loss for words when asked to explain his status for next year's ODI World Cup.

Kohli will turn 39 when the 50-over global showpiece starts in October next year. But his form and fitness have remained top-notch even after he retired from the other two formats in international cricket.

While runs have continued to flow from his bat - he has scored 891 runs in 16 ODIs at 68.53 with four hundreds since 2025 -what hasn't stopped is the debate in the media over his participation in the 2027 World Cup.

These endless speculations are the direct result of the lack of proper communication from the team management and selectors.

Nobody from the coaching staff has come up with a statement that Kohli, who has a record 54 centuries in ODIs, is an indispensable member of the team.

The irony is not lost on the fittest player in India's cricket history, who has been kept in the dark about his World Cup future.

"My perspective is very clear," Kohli said in a podcast released by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

“When I arrive to play, I put my head down, I work as hard if not harder than anyone else. And I play the game in the right way. You want me to run boundary to boundary for 40 overs in an ODI game, I will do that without a complaint.

"After operating like this, if I have to be in a place where I have to prove my worth and value, that place is not meant to be for me.

"And I am very clear in my head from that perspective. That's why when I went back to play, I was very clear in my head, I'm not going out there to prove anything to anyone. I'm going to play because I love playing the game.”

With one candid interview, Kohli has put the ball in the selectors' and team management's court.

It's incredible that despite the lack of clarity, Kohli has still continued to perform brilliantly in the one-day format, playing a big role in India's Champions Trophy triumph last year.

It's quite intriguing that Kohli's World Cup story is eerily similar to Lionel Messi's.

Maradona's compatriot announced his international retirement after leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup victory in Qatar, only to come back in the famous blue and white jersey.

But Messi has never announced whether he would be available for the defending champions in the 2026 Fifa World Cup.

The little magician, who will turn 39 next month, was named in Argentina's preliminary sqaud for the World Cup by Lionel Scaloni.

In his absence due to injuries during several South American 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Argentine head coach found a system to operate without Messi, the linchpin of Argentina in Qatar.

Even without Messi, Argentina were superb in the qualifiers, even humiliating Brazil 4-1 in a ruthless display of attacking football.

But from 2023 until now, Scaloni has faced a barrage of questions on Messi's World Cup place.

The former defender has always shown a clear vision, stating that the door is open for the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Now less than a month before the start of the mega event in the US, Canada and Mexico, it seems Messi is ready to lead his team, hoping to help Argentina become only the second team after Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups.

Argentina certainly know how to honour the greatest player to have emerged from its soil since Maradona.

Messi may no longer be the force he once was, but Scaloni knows that moments of genius from the Barcelona legend could separate the victor from the vanquished in a crunch knockout game at the World Cup.

In India, you don't have to be a cricket expert to know who can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the do-or-die clashes with a willow in hand.

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