The 2022 edition of T20 World Cup kicked off in Australia on Sunday (October 16) with the qualifying round matches.
The Super-12 round will get underway on October 22 with the Australia-New Zealand clash at SCG, while Team India will open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at the iconic MCG on October 23.
Ahead of the Super-12 stage, former India all-rounder Kapil Dev has opined that a team's success in the T20 World Cup could depend on the number of all-rounders it has in its ranks.
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“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 Dev said on Tuesday (October 18) at the sidelines of a promotional event in Lucknow, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
“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,” he further stated, before adding that he isn’t too confident about the chances of India qualifying for the semi-final at the T20 World Cup 2022.
“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.”
When asked about all-rounder Hardik Pandya being touted as another ‘Kapil Dev”, the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper said. "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.”
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022, Team India suffered a massive blow as ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah got ruled out of the tournament with a back injury.
Bumrah’s injury brought experienced campaigner Mohammad Shami brought into the equation even though the latter hasn’t played a T20I for India since November last year.
Sharing his two cents on the same, Kapil said: “He is a fine bowler and much would depend on how Rohit uses him. Nowadays injuries are the biggest problem for fast bowlers.”
Kapil Dev also showered rich praise on Suryakumar Yadav, who has been in terrific form in T20Is lately.
“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,” he said.
(Hindustan Times inputs)
