{"id":125985,"date":"2026-05-16T11:32:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T06:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=125985"},"modified":"2026-05-16T11:32:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T06:32:25","slug":"indian-cricketer-kohli-to-play-2027-world-cup-only-if-he-can-add-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian cricketer Kohli to play 2027 World Cup only if he can add value"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web Desk(National Times)- Indian veteran Virat Kohli said he has nothing left to prove and would consider playing the 2027 One-Day International (ODI) World Cup only if he can still contribute meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 37-year-old, who&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1842839\">retired<\/a>&nbsp;from Twenty20 Internationals after India\u2019s 2024 World Cup triumph and ended his 123-test career last year, is now active only in the ODI format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kohli played 13 ODIs last year, scoring 651 runs, and returned to the Indian Premier League after last representing India in January. He has already struck one century in the current IPL season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked about his prospects for the 2027 World Cup, Kohli said he remains ready to represent India but would not pursue selection unless convinced he could add value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf I can add value to the environment that I\u2019m a part of and the environment feels like I can add value I\u2019ll be seen,\u201d Kohli said on a podcast of his IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI prepare for the fact that I will field 50 overs every ball like it\u2019s the last ball I\u2019m going to play in my career, and I will bat that way and I will run between the wickets that way, and I will do everything possible for the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kohli, a former India captain, has featured in 311 ODIs, amassing 14,797 runs at an average of 58.71. Only Sachin Tendulkar, with 18,426 runs, has scored more in the format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now in his 17th year of international cricket, Kohli has faced scrutiny over consistency, particularly after back-to-back ducks against Australia last year, but responded with strong performances against South Africa and New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLook, if you go to your workplace, and if people say we believe in your abilities, and then a week later they start questioning the way you operate, it\u2019s like, why?\u201d Kohli said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEither tell me on day one I\u2019m not good enough or I\u2019m not needed. Or if you\u2019ve said I\u2019m good enough and you say we\u2019re not even thinking otherwise, then be quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2027 ODI World Cup is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1999186\">scheduled<\/a>&nbsp;to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in October and November next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web Desk(National Times)- Indian veteran Virat Kohli said he has nothing left to prove and would consider playing the 2027 One-Day International (ODI) World Cup only if he can still contribute meaningfully. The 37-year-old, who&nbsp;retired&nbsp;from Twenty20 Internationals after India\u2019s 2024 World Cup triumph and ended his 123-test career last year, is now active only in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Indian cricketer Kohli to play 2027 World Cup only if he can add value - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Indian cricketer Kohli to play 2027 World Cup only if he can add value - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web Desk(National Times)- Indian veteran Virat Kohli said he has nothing left to prove and would consider playing the 2027 One-Day International (ODI) World Cup only if he can still contribute meaningfully. The 37-year-old, who&nbsp;retired&nbsp;from Twenty20 Internationals after India\u2019s 2024 World Cup triumph and ended his 123-test career last year, is now active only in [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-16T06:32:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-16T06:32:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-26-4.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/\",\"name\":\"Indian cricketer Kohli to play 2027 World Cup only if he can add value - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-26-4.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-16T06:32:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-16T06:32:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-26-4.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-26-4.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Indian cricketer Kohli to play 2027 World Cup only if he can add value\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Indian cricketer Kohli to play 2027 World Cup only if he can add value - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Indian cricketer Kohli to play 2027 World Cup only if he can add value - Nation","og_description":"Web Desk(National Times)- Indian veteran Virat Kohli said he has nothing left to prove and would consider playing the 2027 One-Day International (ODI) World Cup only if he can still contribute meaningfully. The 37-year-old, who&nbsp;retired&nbsp;from Twenty20 Internationals after India\u2019s 2024 World Cup triumph and ended his 123-test career last year, is now active only in [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-05-16T06:32:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-16T06:32:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-26-4.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/","name":"Indian cricketer Kohli to play 2027 World Cup only if he can add value - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-26-4.png","datePublished":"2026-05-16T06:32:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-16T06:32:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-26-4.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-26-4.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125985\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Indian cricketer Kohli to play 2027 World Cup only if he can add value"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125987,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125985\/revisions\/125987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}