New Delhi: Following India’s early exit from T20 World Cup former India skipper and legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev reckons that if players prioritize Indian Premier League commitments over playing for the country this is bound to happen. Saying that the BCCI and Indian team management should immediately start planning for the upcoming T20 World Cup instead of leaving things for later.
“It’s time to look at the future. You should start planning right away. It’s not that since the World Cup is over, the Indian team’s entire cricket is too. Go and plan. I just feel that there should have been some gap between IPL and the World Cup. But this is certainly there that our players today have a lot of exposure but they could not make the most of it,” Kapil was quoted as saying to ABP News.
There can be plenty of reasons behind India’s poor show at the ongoing T20 World Cup. Bio-bubbles fatigue, workload, and team selection seem to be at the top of the list. Kapil also reckons players must learn to differentiate and prioritize between international cricket and the Indian Premier League.
“When players prioritise IPL over playing for the country, we what can we say. Players should take pride in playing for their nation. I don’t know their financial conditions so can’t say much. But I feel that first in line should be the country’s team and then franchises. I’m not saying do not play cricket there (for the franchise), but the responsibility is now on the BCCI to plan its cricket better. To not repeat mistakes we committed in this tournament is the biggest learning for us,” Kapil added.
Not just Kapil, batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar also pointed out the same and said that some players could have avoided the last few IPL games to give their bodies ample rest ahead of such a big tournament.
“Having said that, maybe at that stage, when we talk about the workload factor, to take it easy, etc. So could some of the Indian players have not played the last few matches of the IPL? Could they have avoided playing that and kept themselves fresh for India? Well, that’s something that they will be able to answer. Particularly when you know that you may not be able to qualify, should some of the players have taken a break and given themselves one week, 10 days break to freshen up and recharge their batteries?” Gavaskar was quoted as saying to Sports Tak.
India was eliminated from the semi-final race on Sunday as New Zealand defeated Afghanistan and sealed a spot in the semis with four wins out of five matches. India, who have 2 wins in 4 games, will take on Namibia on Monday for the last match of Super 12. The Namibia match will also be the last of Virat Kohli as the T20I captain and Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the team.
India will host New Zealand from November 17 for their first T20 series after the World Cup. The 3-match T20I series will be followed by a 2-Test series.
