India captain Virat Kohli would pick a rival captain in his side if he ever got a chance to pick someone from the other participating teams in the Cricket World Cup. That's the respect the Indian captain has for his rival numbers.
During the 'captains press conference,' all 10 skippers – Gulbadin Naib (Afghanistan), Aaron Finch (Australia), Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh), Eoin Morgan (Eoin Morgan), Kohli, Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Pakistan), Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka) and Jason Holder (Jason Holder) – were asked to choose a player from opposition teams who they would have liked to have had in their team.
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Indeed one difficult task. But there were some interesting answers, ranging from Jasprit Bumrah to Rashid Khan.
When his turn arrived, Kohli said that the Indian squad is pretty strong. But went on with the game and said, "It is very difficult to choose someone. We feel we are such a strong side. But if I have to choose one from the current lot...since AB (de Villiers) is retired now, I would choose Faf (du Plessis)."
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza also chose a rival captain. Pointing towards Kohli, Mortaza said: "I would choose that guy."
Du Plessis preferred to pick bowlers rather than batsmen but when asked if he would not like to have Kohli in his team, the South African said: "Virat is my batting team".
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"I will pick a few players, mainly bowlers. For bowling attack...Jasprit Bumrah, he is bowling really well at the moment. As Virat said, he is a multi-format bowler. Then there is exciting spinner Rashid Khan, Pat Cummins from Australia.
The team that will go till the end of the tournament will be the ones that do well with the ball. Bowlers who have capabilities of taking wickets," said du Plessis.
New Zealander Kane Williamson agreed with his South African counterpart, saying bowlers will play a key role.
"Bowlers will play a big part and I would love to have Rashid Khan in my team," said Williamson.
England's Eoin Morgan, who was the first captain to posed with the question, said: "I won't change anything about my team. Ponting is part of Australia's coaching side, so I would take Ricky Ponting."
Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed picked up Jos Butler, while Australian Aaron Finch went for Proteas strike bowler Kagiso Rabada.
"Rabada is one guy who has amazing energy. He is a superstar," said Finch.
The choice for Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne was Ben Stokes.
"He (Stokes) is a game changer. We know what he can do."
(With PTI inputs)
