Former captain Kapil Dev emphasised that India should stick with Abhishek Sharma for the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand, despite his lacklustre performance in the tournament so far. Abhishek’s only notable contribution has been a half-century against Zimbabwe, raising concerns about his inclusion in the final on Sunday in Ahmedabad.

“Just believe in your team, and the management should believe in the player. And Abhishek should believe in himself that ‘I can perform and I will perform’. Still, one game is there – the final,” Kapil Dev remarked during a golf event.

India emerged victorious against England in a nail-biting semifinal on Thursday night in Mumbai, securing a win by seven runs. Although setting a formidable target of 253, the Indian team faced a challenging counter-attack from Jacob Bethell (105 off 48 balls) and Will Jacks (35 off 20 balls). Kapil admitted he hadn’t anticipated such a close contest.

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“I didn’t think that it would become this difficult. When India scored 250-plus, it was a brilliant game. Yes, India won, congratulations to them, but in the end, it was cricket’s win. I enjoyed it a lot, not as a bowler though,” Kapil Dev humorously noted.

He praised Jasprit Bumrah for his outstanding composure in the high-stakes match, underlining why he is considered the best bowler in the world.

“Bumrah is the Number one bowler in the world, he is the best. Why is he the best? Because he delivers under pressure and the way he bowls. He deserves all the respect from everybody,” he said.

Kapil Dev also lauded Sanju Samson for his crucial 89 runs off 42 balls, which laid the groundwork for India’s hefty score.

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“He is a brilliant cricketer, a big player can go out of target sometime, what happened to Abhishek, but if they are big, they are big and they will come back. And Sanju really played wonderful cricket in the last two games,” he acknowledged, referencing Sanju’s 97 in the vital Super Eight game against the West Indies earlier.

India will be hoping for a standout performance from both these players as they prepare for the final showdown