Virat Kohli holding the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award for 2023.© ICC
God’s Plan! Virat Kohli and Rinku Singh shared a light-hearted moment – repeating this mantra – in a video shared by ICC’s official Instagram account. Ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, Kohli was awarded the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award for 2023, and the two can be seen saying the phrase before Kohli picks up the trophy. The mantra was popularised by Rinku Singh during IPL 2024, as the Kolkata Knight Riders ended a ten-year drought to become champions for a third time.
Kohli beat stiff competition from India teammates Shubman Gill and Mohammed Shami and New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell to win the award. He also received the Team of the Year cap for last year.
Despite Team India’s World Cup Final heartbreak, Kohli enjoyed a renaissance in the 50-over format in 2023. He won the Player of the Tournament, amassing 765 runs over 11 games; the highest-ever in a World Cup, overtaking Sachin Tendulkar‘s tally of 673 runs in the 2003 World Cup.
Now, having also clinched the second Orange Cap (Most Runs) of his career in IPL 2024, Kohli is in the West Indies and USA, as India aim to win a second T20 World Cup title.
Kohli is also the highest run-scorer in T20 World Cup lead, and will aim to stretch his records even further this summer.
And if Rinku’s mantra is to come true, ‘God’s Plan’ could have even more meaning to the men in blue this year. Rinku has also travelled with the team to the USA, as part of the reserves after narrowly missing out on the 15-man squad.
Team India has not tasted the success of a major ICC trophy since 2013. At 35, Kohli is running out of time to add some more feathers to an incredible individual trophy cabinet.
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