Legendary Indian captain Kapil Dev reckoned that the Indian cricket team is not the favorite to win the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 as he is concerned about the Men in Blue making it to the semifinals. The Indian side had an underwhelming show last year in the WC at the UAE where the team failed to make it to the top four. However, there are a lot of changes in the Indian team after last year’s mega event including the new coach and the captain.
Team India has played dominant cricket in the bilateral matches this year however they were seen struggling badly in the multi-nation Asia Cup and failed to enter the final. Ahead of the t20 World Cup 2022, the Indian side suffered two big blows as Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah were ruled out of the tournament because of injuries.
Kapil Dev, who led the Indian side to the historic 1983 World Cup glory, feels that Rohit and Co. have only a 30 percent chance of making it to the semifinals this year. On Tuesday, speaking at a promotional event in Lucknow, Kapil Dev said: “In T20 cricket, the team winning one match can lose the next. It’s 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 a 30 percent chance of India making it to the top (last) four,”
Further, Kapil Dev also talked about having a quality all-rounder in the side as he said that skipper Rohit has the liberty of having star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has the ability to excel in all the departments of the game. He said:
“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.”
He added: “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,”
The legendary all-rounder also heaped praise on Suryakumar Yadav as he feels that his inclusion makes the Indian batting order stronger. He said:
“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,”
