He is serious about wanting to play the World Cup 2027: Dinesh Karthik on Virat Kohli

New Delhi [India], October 16 (ANI): Ahead of the ODI series against Australia, former India cricketer and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) mentor Dinesh Karthik has revealed that stalwart batter Virat Kohli is determined to make a comeback for the 2027 World Cup, having resumed regular training during his recent break in London.

Speaking in a video on his social media handle, Dinesh Karthik said that the 36-year-old player is keen to play the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027.

"He is keen to play the World Cup 2027. In London, he was training during this big lay-off that he has had after a long time in his life. He was practising cricket, 2-3 sessions a week. He is serious about wanting to play the World Cup 2027," Karthik said in a video postyed on Instagram.

Virat is India's second-highest run-getter in ODIs, with 14,181 runs in 302 matches and 290 innings, averaging 57.88, boasting a strike rate of over 93, and having scored 51 centuries and 74 fifties. His best score is 183. In seven ODIs this year, the superstar has made 275 runs in seven innings at an average of 45.83, with a century and two fifties to his name and a best score of 100*.

His last international outing this year was in March, the ICC Champions Trophy winning campaign, where he starred with 218 runs in five matches, including a century against arch-rivals Pakistan and a brilliant 84 against Australia in the semifinals.

Virat also has a long-standing love affair with Australian playing conditions, having scored 1,327 runs in 29 ODIs at an average of 51.03 and a strike rate of over 89, with five centuries and six fifties in 29 innings and a best score of 133*.

His last five innings against Australia are 54, 56, 85, 54 and 84. His last five innings in Australia are 104, 46, 21, 89 and 63.

India's ODI squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal. (ANI)

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