Following Team India’s early exit from the T20 World Cup 2021, 1983 World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev feels that BCCI should start planning immediately for the next World Cup instead of leaving things for later.
Team India for the first time since 2012 failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC event. The two back-to-back losses against Pakistan and New Zealand in T20 World Cup 2021 diminished their chances to qualify for the knockout stage.
The Virat Kohli-led side was dependant on Afghanistan to beat New Zealand but that wasn’t the case as Black Caps thumped the Mohammad Nabi-led side to become the second team from the Group 2 to qualify for the semi-finals.
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Team India’s early exit from the T20 World Cup has left many fans and pundits disheartened. While some are of the opinion that mental fatigue from constant bio-bubbles played a huge factor behind India's misfortunes early on in the tournament, many feel that they don’t take international cricket seriously and focus more on IPL.
Former skipper Kapil Dev cited two reasons behind Team India's ouster. He said that the Virat Kohli-led side should start planning for the next World Cup and acknowledged that a gap between the IPL and World Cup would have been good for the players.
He, however, added that the players haven't been able to make the most of the exposure they have been getting.
“It’s time to look at the future. You should start planning right away. It’s not that since the World Cup is over, the Indian team’s entire cricket is too. Go and plan.
"I just feel that there should have been some gap between IPL and the World Cup. But this is certainly there that our players today has a lot of exposure but they could not make the most of it,” Kapil Dev told ABP news.
Kapil Dev further said that certain cricketers prefer playing the IPL, which is wrong. He suggested that players should always take pride in playing for the nation ahead of the franchise cricket.
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He added that BCCI needs to plan its cricket better and Team India not making the same mistakes they made in T20 World Cup will be the biggest learning them.
“When players prioritize IPL over playing for the country, we what can we say. Players should take pride in playing for their nation. I don’t know their financial conditions so can’t say much. But I feel that first in line should be the country’s team and then franchises.
“I’m not saying do not play cricket there (for the franchise), but the responsibility is now on the BCCI to plan its cricket better. To not repeat mistakes we committed in this tournament is the biggest learning for us,” he said.
Team India will now take on Namibia in the dead rubber match in Dubai today (8th November).
(ABP News inputs)
