Hashim Mohammad Amla (born 31 March 1983) is a South African cricketer who plays for South Africa in all three forms of the game . He also holds the milestones for being the fastest ever to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 and 7000 ODI runs. He also became the fastest cricketer to reach 10 ODI centuries. He has scored ODI centuries against all Test playing nations and is only the fourth batsman in history to do so. On 19 January 2018, Amla broke Virat Kohli's record for being the fastest batsman to achieve 27 centuries in ODI. Amla has reached the milestone in 167 innings, surpassing Kohli’s 169.A veteran of two World Cups, though, was included in the squad and the stylish right-hander is eager to prove that he still has what it takes to cut it at the highest level.
"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," Amla said to ICC.
"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 added.
Amla has been in excellent form in the past three years. He has scored 1391 runs in 34 ODIs, averaging 44.27, with a strike rate of 88.78. His best score in this span has been 154 vs Sri Lanka.This is his third World Cup, occasion where he's done fairly well, with 639 runs in 15 games, average of 42.60, strike rate being 91.41 and highest score being 159 vs Ireland in 2015.
"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.
Though they lose the opening game against the host England by a very big margin, Amla believes that they will bounce back in the upcoming matches of the World Cup 2019.
