Former Indian skipper, Kapil Dev, who is India’s fuirst World Cup winning captain is taken aback by Virat Kohli’s ‘we were not brave enough’ comment after men in blue syffered a forgetful eight-wicket loss against New Zealand in their Super 12 Group 2 match in Dubai on Sunday.
After the defeat, speaking to the host broadcaster, atch presentation ceremony, Virat Kohli said: “Quite bizarre. To be very honest and brutal upfront, I don’t think we were brave enough with bat or ball,” which did not go down well with Kapil, who feels it is the last thing a captain should say or feel.
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During a chat on ABP News, Kapil Dev said, “For a big player like him, it is a very weak statement. If that is the kind of body language the team has and if that is the kind of thought process the captain has, it is really tough to lift the team. I felt a little strange hearing those words. He isn’t that kind of a player.”
He further added, “He is a fighter. I think he got lost in the moment or something. A captain should not say words like ‘we were not brave enough’. You are playing for your country and he has the passion. But when you say such words, fingers will definitely be pointed.”
Back-to-back losses ha resulted in India standing very less chance of qualifying to the semi-final, as two defeats in the first couple of matches have not only pushed India to fifth in the group, but also dented their net run rate. Looking back at India’s poor show, Kapil added that no amount of criticism is going to be enough for a below-par performance such as the one dished out by India on Sunday evening.
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Kapil Dev eplxained, “I don’t have words. How much can we even criticize? A team that claims to have played the IPL and gain practice, when it plays like this, there will be criticism. When you win, no amount of praise is enough, but right now, no amount of criticism is enough because they did not play the kind of cricket expected of them. You fight and lose, we understand. But today there was not a single performance which we can be happy about.”
