The year 2022 could have been one of the most glorious years in Indian cricket history. Yet, as the year inches closer to an end, 2022 will go down as another of those years that could have been! It was a year of ups and downs for the Indian men's national cricket team. Once again, India emerged as the champions of bilateral series and a story of so close yet so far in multinational tournaments. Records were broken and new milestones were achieved as the team transitioned from the Virat Kohli era to Rohit Sharma's time. The results, however, remained the same.
As we step into a new year, Indian cricket fans would hope that the senior men's national team can bury the demons of the past and emerge triumphant in every series and tournament they participate in but most important realise the main goal of winning an ICC event. India will host the ODI World Cup in 2023 and once again, there will be tremendous expectations on the Men in Blue to end their ICC trophy drought.
Former India captain and legendary all-rounder, Kapil Dev evaluated India's ODI World Cup hopes in 2023. The World Cup-winning captain zeroed down on few areas that India needs to improve in order to win the ICC trophy at home.
"If you want to win the World Cup, the coach, selectors, and team management will have to make some tough decisions," Kapil said in a show on ABP News.
"Personal interests will have to take a backseat and they will need to think about the team.
"If you think Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and 2-3 players will win us the World Cup then that's never going to happen. You should believe in your team. Do we have such a team? Definitely. Do we have certain match winners? Yes, of course! We have players who can win the World Cup," the iconic cricketer opined
Kapil further explained why it's important for a team to have 'at least 5-6 players' who form the pillar of a team rather than relying on just one or two stars.
"There are always a couple of players who turn out to be the pillars of your side. The team revolves around them but we need to break that and build at least 5-6 players like that. That's why I say, you can't depend on Virat and Rohit. You need players who fulfill each of their responsibilities. The youngsters will need to come forward and say 'it is our time'," Kapil affirmed.
