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Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev has made a shocking claim about Team India, declaring that the Men in Blue only have a 30 percent chance of winning the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia. While India has depth in batting with the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav occupying the first four spots in the batting order but the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja has weakened the side.
According to Kapil Dev, an all-rounder like Ravindra Jadeja can win a match through his batting, bowling, or even fielding and there is no like-for-like replacement for him in the team. Though Axar Patel is there in the squad, his batting is not considered as good as Jadeja's.
Moreover, Jasprit Bumrah's injury came at a rather unfortunate time for India. Widely regarded as the best death bowler in the world, Bumrah remained one of the greatest obstacles for every top batter in the game.
His extraordinary numbers in T20Is are a testament to his dominance in a version of the sport which many feels is tilted heavily in favor of batsmen. Unsurprisingly, Bumrah's average in T20Is is just over 20 and his economy rate is 6.62.
“What more do you want in the side other than having all-rounders who could win matches for a side not only in the World Cup but in all other matches or events? A cricketer like Hardik Pandya has been quite useful for India,” Kapil Dev said during a promotional event in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.
“All-rounders are the key players of any side, and they become the strength of a team. An all-rounder like Hardik gives Rohit Sharma the liberty to make use of the sixth bowler in a match. He is a good batter, bowler and fielder too. Ravindra Jadeja is also a perfect all-rounder for India,” the 1983 World Cup-winning captain added.
“Even in our days, we had plenty of all-rounders in the India team,” Kapil Dev elaborated.
But he wasn't confident about the Rohit Sharma-led side's chances of lifting their second T20 World Cup trophy in Australia. If the Indian cricket team does manage to win the title Down Under it would be their first triumph since 2007 when the legendary MS Dhoni powered the Asian giants to their maiden victory in South Africa.
“In T20 cricket, the team winning a match can lose the next… It's a very difficult to talk about the chances of India winning the World Cup. The issue is can they make it to the top four? And I am concerned about their making it to the top four, only then anything can be said. For me, it's just 30 % chance of India making it to the top (last) four,” Kapil Dev explained.
“In our days too, we had idols, we used to follow them. It's good that new benchmarks are being set by young cricketers. It's a very good sign for a team and I believe that everyone should keep working hard to set much higher benchmarks,” the legendary cricketer remarked about Hardik Pandya who has often been compared to him.
Meanwhile, Kapil Dev was effusive in his praise of Suryakumar Yadav who he claimed has transformed into an impact player for India.
“In fact, no one ever thought about Yadav being an impact player in the future, but he did great with his batting and forced the world to talk about him. Now, we can't think about India without him. Having a batter like Suryakumar in the team in the company of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, a team automatically becomes strong,” Kapil Dev said.
“There is no word like pressure and there is no scope of being under pressure in cricket. One should play cricket for enjoyment and fun and not find himself under pressure. One should enjoy his passion like actors, singers, painters etc. When a kid is born, he gets to play bat and ball, football or a tennis ball, you don't give him a pencil or a pen. So take sports as fun, not as pressure,” Kapil Dev noted.
Kapil Dev also shared his views on Mohammed Shami replacing the injured Jasprit Bumrah in India's World Cup squad.
He said that Shami's experience could prove to be vital for the Indian team, especially at the death, Kapil Dev added that a lot would depend on where Rohit Sharma uses him – at the start, in the middle overs, or during the concluding stages of the opposition innings.
“He is a fine bowler and much would depend on how Rohit uses him. Nowadays injuries are the biggest problem for fast bowlers,” Kapil Dev concluded.
