Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev is confident of India’s victory against arch-rivals Pakistan when they take on each other in the World Cup on Sunday. Dev who led India to World Cup glory in 1983 believes that the current Indian team is playing good cricket at the moment. “The team will definitely win against Pakistan because they are playing good cricket at the moment.”
Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev is confident of India’s victory against arch-rivals Pakistan when they take on each other in the World Cup on Sunday. Dev who led India to World Cup glory in 1983 believes that the current Indian team is playing good cricket at the moment. “The team will definitely win against Pakistan because they are playing good cricket at the moment.”
He also admitted that Pakistan used to be the favourites during his playing days but today the scenario has changed. “When I played the game, Pakistan used to be the favourites but now India are a much better side than them and therefore favourites.”
Despite starting the World Cup campaign on a positive note, the Virat Kohli-led Indian unit suffered a huge setback on Tuesday with opener Shikhar Dhawan being ruled out of the tournament for three weeks due to an injury. The left-handed batsman, who played a pivotal role in India’s 36-run victory against Australia, fractured his left thumb during the contest.
Dev, however, believes that the fans should not think about the “negative” and hopes that the player who replaces Dhawan performs even better. He also lamented about the Indian opener missing out from participating further and said it is always disappointing to miss out on a big player especially during a tournament like World Cup.
Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev is confident of India’s victory against arch-rivals Pakistan when they take on each other in the World Cup on Sunday. Dev who led India to World Cup glory in 1983 believes that the current Indian team is playing good cricket at the moment. “The team will definitely win against Pakistan because they are playing good cricket at the moment.”
He also admitted that Pakistan used to be the favourites during his playing days but today the scenario has changed. “When I played the game, Pakistan used to be the favourites but now India are a much better side than them and therefore favourites.”
Despite starting the World Cup campaign on a positive note, the Virat Kohli-led Indian unit suffered a huge setback on Tuesday with opener Shikhar Dhawan being ruled out of the tournament for three weeks due to an injury. The left-handed batsman, who played a pivotal role in India’s 36-run victory against Australia, fractured his left thumb during the contest.
Dev, however, believes that the fans should not think about the “negative” and hopes that the player who replaces Dhawan performs even better. He also lamented about the Indian opener missing out from participating further and said it is always disappointing to miss out on a big player especially during a tournament like World Cup.
Kapil reiterated that Hardik Pandya shouldn’t be compared with him while lauding his contribution in the previous match. The all-rounder added a quick 48 in just 27 deliveries, which included four boundaries and three maximum, helping India post 352/5 on the board. “We shouldn’t compare Hardik Pandya with me. You should let him play and I hope he plays better than me. He is a talented player and like the way he played the previous match and if he continues to play this way there will be no need for comparison.”
Speaking further on the all-rounder, Kapil said, “He is a batting all-rounder I can feel that. I hope he can keep on improving his bowling. More so he’s a great athlete, great team man and that is important.”
Kapil also reckoned that the pitches in England are very flat and feels that the contest is getting more batsmen friendly. “The biggest concern is the pitches in England are getting very flat. If we add a little bit of grass even 250 would be hard to achieve.”
“The game in recent years has been dominated by the batsmen and I personally want the pitches to generate 60 per cent help to the batsmen and 40 per cent to the bowlers. But unfortunately this is not the case, the pitches at this moment help 75 to 80 per cent to the batsmen and they are dominating the contest.”
He also admitted that Pakistan used to be the favourites during his playing days but today the scenario has changed. “When I played the game, Pakistan used to be the favourites but now India are a much better side than them and therefore favourites.”
Despite starting the World Cup campaign on a positive note, the Virat Kohli-led Indian unit suffered a huge setback on Tuesday with opener Shikhar Dhawan being ruled out of the tournament for three weeks due to an injury. The left-handed batsman, who played a pivotal role in India’s 36-run victory against Australia, fractured his left thumb during the contest.
Dev, however, believes that the fans should not think about the “negative” and hopes that the player who replaces Dhawan performs even better. He also lamented about the Indian opener missing out from participating further and said it is always disappointing to miss out on a big player especially during a tournament like World Cup.
Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev is confident of India’s victory against arch-rivals Pakistan when they take on each other in the World Cup on Sunday. Dev who led India to World Cup glory in 1983 believes that the current Indian team is playing good cricket at the moment. “The team will definitely win against Pakistan because they are playing good cricket at the moment.”
He also admitted that Pakistan used to be the favourites during his playing days but today the scenario has changed. “When I played the game, Pakistan used to be the favourites but now India are a much better side than them and therefore favourites.”
Despite starting the World Cup campaign on a positive note, the Virat Kohli-led Indian unit suffered a huge setback on Tuesday with opener Shikhar Dhawan being ruled out of the tournament for three weeks due to an injury. The left-handed batsman, who played a pivotal role in India’s 36-run victory against Australia, fractured his left thumb during the contest.
Dev, however, believes that the fans should not think about the “negative” and hopes that the player who replaces Dhawan performs even better. He also lamented about the Indian opener missing out from participating further and said it is always disappointing to miss out on a big player especially during a tournament like World Cup.
Kapil reiterated that Hardik Pandya shouldn’t be compared with him while lauding his contribution in the previous match. The all-rounder added a quick 48 in just 27 deliveries, which included four boundaries and three maximum, helping India post 352/5 on the board. “We shouldn’t compare Hardik Pandya with me. You should let him play and I hope he plays better than me. He is a talented player and like the way he played the previous match and if he continues to play this way there will be no need for comparison.”
Speaking further on the all-rounder, Kapil said, “He is a batting all-rounder I can feel that. I hope he can keep on improving his bowling. More so he’s a great athlete, great team man and that is important.”
Kapil also reckoned that the pitches in England are very flat and feels that the contest is getting more batsmen friendly. “The biggest concern is the pitches in England are getting very flat. If we add a little bit of grass even 250 would be hard to achieve.”
“The game in recent years has been dominated by the batsmen and I personally want the pitches to generate 60 per cent help to the batsmen and 40 per cent to the bowlers. But unfortunately this is not the case, the pitches at this moment help 75 to 80 per cent to the batsmen and they are dominating the contest.”