Ahead of the start of the match, Virat Kohli and David Beckham also had brief chat.© X (Twitter)
The knockout stages of the Cricket World Cup 2023 got underway on Wednesday as India squared off against New Zealand in the first semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium. Ahead of the match, star India batter Virat Kohli caught up with former Real Madrid and Manchester United footballer David Beckham, who also paraded the Cricket World Cup trophy with batting great Sachin Tendulkar. Taking to Instagram, Beckham posted a video where he can be seen exchanging a couple of one-twos with Kohli.
“@virat.kohli with the assist,” Beckham captioned the video on his Instagram story.
Virat Kohli playing football with David Beckham at Wankhede. [Beckham Instagram story] pic.twitter.com/gid0TcKP5V
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 15, 2023
Notably, Beckham is in the country as an ambassador for UNICEF, a role also performed by Tendulkar.
Ahead of the start of the match, Kohli and Beckham also had brief chat.
Notably, India’s Virat Kohli needs one more century to set an outright new one-day international record of 50 hundreds after he drew level with retired former team-mate Tendulkar’s mark of 49 against South Africa.
India are bidding for a third one-day international World Cup title to add to their 1983 triumph in England and 2011 victory over Sri Lanka in a Wankhede final.
New Zealand, the finalists at the last two World Cups, have yet to lift the trophy.
Wednesday’s winners will face either five-time champions Australia or South Africa, who meet in Thursday’s second semi-final in Kolkata, in an Ahmedabad final on Sunday.
India were 178/1 after 25 overs against New Zealand, with both openers back in the dugout.
While captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed on 47 by Tim Southee, his opening partner Shubman Gill got retired hurt due to cramps. He was batting on 79 off just 65 balls.
(With AFP Inputs)
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