India’s revolutionary captain who won Team India its first cricket World Cup in 1983 Kapil Dev has thrown his two cents ahead of India’s chances at the T20 World Cup.
The legendary cricketer does not show much faith in the Indian team nor gives them much for their chances going into the T20 World Cup.
Though the other pundits may see India as a strong contender to win the T20 World Cup, the Indian legend makes a grim prediction that sees India as the unlikely winner of the World Cup.
“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 said.
Kapil who to this day is hailed as India’s finest all-rounder knows all about the abilities to have an all-rounder along with their importance and the pivotal role they play for a team.
“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 said at the sidelines of a promotional event here in Lucknow.
“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.
“Even in our days, we had plenty of all-rounders in the India team,” said Dev, who does not believe India are going very far in the upcoming World Cup.
He was also asked about Hardik Pandya who is seen as the best all-rounder India has had since Kapil Dev, Kapil said that it was good that someone followed him too.
"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,” he further added.
India squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.
