ICC World Cup 2019: Hashim Amla Reveals That He is Hungrier Than Before and is Raring to Go for the Showpiece Event
May 23, 2019 at 2:46 PM
South Africa top order batsman Hashim Amla is gearing up for the upcoming 2019 World Cup. There is certainly no doubt about the fact that the stylish batsman will look to make a difference for the Proteas and help them lift their maiden World Cup title. Amla missed the ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier in the year owing to an injury.
He also rested himself from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and stated that he had been away for a while. However, he is fired up and is hungrier than ever before to be back on the field. It will be a huge World Cup for Amla especially given the fact that he will be the most experienced batsman of the side.
“Things happen that you don’t anticipate and I did not anticipate how things have gone recently. But I am a firm believer that when something happens, there is some good in it. I have had time away and now I am really looking back to wearing the green and gold again,” Hashim Amla was quoted as saying by the ICC website.
“I am hungrier than ever before, there is no doubt about that. I have been blessed to have this shirt for a while but the time off has made me want to come back stronger,” he further added.
Amla has already been part of a couple of World Cup squads back in 2011 and 2015. It will be his 3rd showpiece event and there is no doubt that he will be looking to make full use of the opportunity presented to him. In all likelihood, it will be the last chance of Amla to help the Proteas lift their maiden World Cup title.
South Africa will meet hosts England in the opening game of the tournament on 30th May. Amla believes that the Proteas can do well against the hosts who are currently the No 1 ranked ODI team in the world. Amla feels South Africa will perform well against them. He further stated that the team is confident of doing well despite very few expectations from them.
“It is the best first game we could have asked for. We have played England recently and had some success against them, I have done well against them too. This year, you don’t see the same big names and that is why the focus is not on us but that has some good in it,” he said.
“There has not been much chat about us winning in comparison to the past but I don’t think that played a part in how we performed. At the end of the day, we always gave our best and played to win. The fact that there has not been a lot of chat at this World Cup means there is less expectation but in the team, we think we can do well,” he added.