IND VS ENG : 'IF WE ARE GOING TO DEPEND ON...YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE IT', KAPIL DEV WARNS ROHIT SHARMA-LED INDIA

Kapil Dev, the captain of India's victorious 1983 World Cup team, has called on Rohit Sharma's squad to perform as a cohesive unit to secure victory in the current T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. India, one of the two undefeated teams in the tournament so far, are set to face England in the semifinal on Thursday in Guyana. A victory over England would advance the Men in Blue to the final, where they would face the Proteas, who reached their first-ever World Cup final by defeating Afghanistan in the first semifinal.

India's sole T20 World Cup title was secured in 2007. They have come close several times since but have fallen short of the expectations of millions of fans and never reclaimed the title. In the last edition held in Australia, India were defeated by eventual champions England in the semifinals.

“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.

“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 added.

The 65-year-old highlighted that in his 1983 World Cup-winning team, he wasn't the sole performer.

“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''.

“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.

He extended his best wishes to India ahead of their semifinal clash against England and expressed hope that the Men in Blue secure 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'', the 65-year old added.

2024-06-27T13:16:54Z dg43tfdfdgfd