Team India receives advise from Kapil Dev: T20 World Cup
On Thursday, India’s first World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, stated that teamwork, not individual genius, will determine if Rohit Sharma’s team will win the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and break their trophy drought of more than ten years.
In an attempt to advance to the finals, where South Africa is waiting after destroying Afghanistan, India will play England in the tournament’s quarterfinal later on Thursday.
“Why talk about only Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, or Kuldeep Yadav? Everybody has a role to play. Their job is to win the tournament,” Kapil told PTI Videos in an exclusive interview.
“To win a match, an odd person can come out, but to win a tournament everybody has to work together. If we are going to depend on Bumrah or Arshdeep, then you are going to lose it,” he asserted.
“Let’s talk about the team. That gives you a better perspective rather than the odd player. Yes main player is there and we can go around him. But everybody has to chip in to win the World Cup,” he added.
Kapil noted that he wasn’t the only player who contributed to his team’s 1983 World Cup victory.
“Roger Binny, Mohinder Amarnath, Kirti Azad, Yashpal Sharma all came out with match-winning performances. If you start depending on one player it means you are not going to win tournaments more often,” he observed
.
Ahead of India’s semi-final match against England, he wished the Men in Blue success and hoped they would win the trophy.
“All the Best, good luck, I hope the Indian players, the way they are playing keep on playing like that, they should not have a bad day and be out of the tournament like what happened last time in the 50 overs World Cup,” said the iconic all-rounder.
“They are playing well, they are enjoying. Hats off to them. Good luck to them. I wish them all the luck and happiness,” he added.
The 65-year-old, who was chosen as the Professional Golf Tour of India’s president on Wednesday, expressed his pride at India being viewed as title contenders each time they participate in an international competition.
“We should be happy that we are able to think that we can win. 20 years back, you weren’t thinking. It’s important that in every tournament India is going as a favourite. That’s a big thing.
“We never thought about that. That’s enough encouragement for a youngster to take up the sport. I am very happy to see where Indian cricket has reached wonderfully well,” he emphasised.
The post Team India receives advise from Kapil Dev: T20 World Cup appeared first on Cricket Country.