Hopefully team can use loss against NZ in semis as a motivation to push little extra: Rahul

NEW DELHI: Star opener KL Rahul on Tuesday said that he is very excited about the 2021 T20 Men's World Cup, adding that India's defeat against New Zealand in the semifinal of the 50-over World Cup in 2019 hurt the team a lot and hopefully the side will use that as a motivation to push little extra and win the tournament.

Virat Kohli-led India will open their T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24 at the Dubai International Stadium.

"I am very excited, obviously, the World Cup is a big event and every cricketer looks forward to it and every player is training all year round to play this tournament. The 2019 World Cup semis loss did hurt the team a lot and hopefully, we can use that to push and motivate ourselves a little extra and try to win the tournament," said Rahul during a Clubhouse session organised by Red Bull.

The current edition of the T20 World Cup was scheduled to be played last year but it was postponed due to Covid-19. However, Rahul feels it has given time to teams to figure out their best combination.

"The World Cup was supposed to be played last year, but it was postponed and it has given a lot more time to think about the best combination and try and get everything right and make a huge impact in the mega event," he said.

MS Dhoni, who led the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to their fourth title in the recently concluded IPL 2021, has joined the Indian team as a mentor for this marquee event. IANS

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