Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev felt Rohit Sharma’s team needed to improve in many ways despite a comfortable victory over the Netherlands.
Half-century performances from Rohit, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav saw Men in Blue finish 179th in 20 overs. The Netherlands ultimately lost by 56 runs and showed no signs of trying for a total.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was fantastic with the new ball. Kapil Dev said that he threw two maidens in a row to finish his 2-for-9 in his three overs and both spinners were also very impressive. KL Rahul was the only batsman to do poorly.
However, there was a time when he had a hit ratio of around 6 near the 10th overmark, but a few good shots overshadowed his early struggles with his racquet toward the end. Arshdeep also lost a few runs in the final, which could have been avoided given the big game ahead.
The noticeable loopholes as per Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev noted that India had made up for a slow start in batting in the final over and felt bowling still needed perfection.
“The bowling has gotten better. In batting, I felt India could have scored more runs but in the last 10 overs, made up for it by scoring over 100 runs. See, the grounds are big, and hence, the spinners gain a little bit of advantage. I would still say that in patches we are still lacking in bowling,” Kapil mentioned on ABP News.
“Against a team like the Netherlands, you should have proper planning as to where to bowl in terms of line and length. The biggest thing is that in such matches, there should not be no-balls or wides because you are practicing and need to win the match as well. So overall, I would say, the bowling was good but still some loopholes were visible,” he added.
Kapil Dev also praised Suryakumar Yadav for taking the chance and felt that Rohit could have been more compact. He added that he wanted more contributions.
“Suryakumar Yadav has really grabbed his chances well in this team. To score runs so quickly, he should be praised more. India would still want their captain Rohit Sharma to be a little more compact and want Rahul to score some runs.
Virat Kohli should play anchor because he can accelerate, but if he gets the chance to play through the entire 20 overs, this team can chase down any total. In the last 1-2 years, he was the player we were struggling to find – who is going to bat for us at No.4? There were players but not the kind of contenders we have found in Suryakumar,” concludes the former player.
