World Cup 2019: Virat Kohli acknowledges German footballer Thomas Muller’s wishing India luck

With sport becoming a truly globalised event, connections between heroes of different sporting disciplines are not uncommon. We have seen in the past India captain Virat Kohli exchanging pleasantries with Portuguese football giant Cristiano Ronaldo or the likes of Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar meeting Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer. And now, fans have witnessed another such instance when Germany’s World Cup-winning footballer Thomas Mueller expressed support for India in the ongoing ICC World Cup.

The 29-year-old famed forward, who plays for Bayern Munich and was a member of Germany’s World Cup-winning squad of 2014, emerged as an unexpected fan of the Men in Blue after expressing his admiration for Kohli’s men.

Mueller took to Twitter on Monday and posted a picture of himself donning a blue jersey of the Indian team and holding a bat in one hand. In his tweet, Mueller wished all the participants of the cricket World Cup “good luck and thrilling matches” and made a special mention of Kohli, saying the latter had supported the German national football team in the past. According to the footballer, it was time for him to reciprocate by backing the Indian team.

The World Cup is being held in England and Wales and the fans were impressed to see a player from a non-cricket-playing nation wishing India luck for the tournament.

I wish all participants of the Cricket #WorldCup2019 good luck & thrilling matches. Especially I cross my fingers for @imVkohli, the captain of the Indian team. He`s a fan of @DFB_Team and supported it multiple times in the past ????✊???? #Cricket #GermanyCheersForIndia #esmuellert pic.twitter.com/hwS4apAlIE

— Thomas Müller (@esmuellert_) June 3, 2019

Thank you Thomas! ???? https://t.co/vapwNrn5A8

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) June 4, 2019

Muller’s prayer for India did not go unnoticed and Kohli thanked the former in a tweet saying: “Thank You Thomas!”.

This is 2nd time India is playing South Africa in the World Cup opener

India is the last team to launch their campaign in this World Cup. They will play their opening game against South Africa at Rose Bowl, Southampton, on Wednesday in a day game. India has won only five of their 11 opening games in the World Cup since 1975. It is the second time that they are playing South Africa in their opening game in a World Cup after the 1999 World Cup. However, going by the current rankings and the Proteas’ two successive defeats to start with, Kohli’s men will be confident of a positive beginning.