Legendary South Africa pacer Allan Donald believes that Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket a little earlier, but he believes the star Indian batsman still has the drive to play till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Donald, who had been friendly with Kohli during his tenure as Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s bowling coach during the 2014–15 Indian Premier League, used the batter’s outstanding work ethics as evidence to support his claims.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen hunger in a player other than Virat. I’ve got massive respect for him. I often talk about it in the dressing rooms and chats about being a champion trainer. There’s no one that trains as hard as him. He is just a machine,” a PTI report quoted Donald telling a select media gathering during SA20.
“I actually miss him in the Test match arena. I think he’s retired too early, but yeah, I look with no doubt we will see him in the white-ball arena in the World Cup very, very soon,” he added.
According to Donald, South Africa has assembled a powerful and well-balanced team that may perform well in the forthcoming T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
“It’s going to be a heck of a tournament in India, isn’t it? South Africa picked a very strong squad. There might always be question marks about who’s not going and who should have gone and all that kind of stuff. I think India have got the best T20 wickets on the planet. It’s just so hard for any bowler and I’ve seen it in the IPL with scores 124 in a power play. That’s just where the skill of batting has gone.
“If you can win the inches from a bowling point of view and plot your way very carefully and smartly, then, you know, it’s going to come down to that again. So, I hope to see South Africa in the final as well,” he said.
