Netherlands’ cricketer Wesley Barresi is the only player who is in the Dutch squad for ICC World Cup 2023 and had played the last time India hosted the event in 2011. That 2011 World Cup was also the first time Virat Kohli appeared in the ICC event for India.
Kohli had started the 2011 World Cup with a ton against Bangladesh in Dhaka and ended as a World Cup winner when India lifted the trophy defeating Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai.
During that tournament, the Netherlands had played India as well on March 9 and Barresi was part of that playing XI. During the match in Delhi, Barresi had given a send-off to Kohli after the then soon-to-be star batter was dismissed for 12 in India's chase of 190.
The Dutch managed to make India stumble from 80 for 1 to 99 for four, which lit a fire under them. And in the heat of the moment, Barresi recalled telling Kohli: "We'll never see or hear from you again."
Now 12 years later, Barresi looked back at the incident and saw the funny side of it and admitted that his prediction on Kohli was a wrong one.
"Maybe I got slightly cocky that night, but looking at that Indian team, they had superstars galore, and Kohli was the youngster, the timing was perfect to hand out a bit of stick. He certainly proved us wrong," he told Cricbuzz.
"It was all part of the moment, and we were fired up. We had them on the ropes, they were three or four down, so we felt like we were in the game a little. It was an excellent opportunity to knock India over in India. The atmosphere and everything that was going on spurred us on a bit, and we might have gotten ahead of ourselves," he added.
Despite the result not going in favor of the visitors, Barresi recalled the match as a fond memory. He said: "The stadium was completely packed and painted blue everywhere. I just remember standing behind the stumps and seeing Sachin Tendulkar right in front of me."
The two teams will meet again in the World Cup in India on November 12 in Bengaluru.
