Mumbai: Former India captain Kapil Dev has been left unimpressed by Virat Kohli’s ‘we were not brave enough’ comment following India’s eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand in their Super 12 Group 2 match in Dubai.
“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 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,” Kapil was quoted saying on ABP News.
Questioning Kohli’s remark the former Indian skipper, stated that the Indian captain ‘got lost in the moment’ and shouldn’t have said or feel something as discouraging as this.
“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. But, if the body language of the team and thought process of the captain is like this, it’s very difficult to lift the mood of the players inside the dressing room,” he added referring to Kohli’s statement that his teammates were not brave enough with the bat, ball or in their body language.
He also requested head coach Ravi Shastri and team mentor MS Dhoni should step up to lift the players’ morale. “I would urge my friend Shastri and Dhoni to lift the team in this scenario, it is Dhoni’s job to talk to players and give them confidence,” he said.
Kapil added that no amount of criticism is going to be enough for a disappointing performance such as the one gave out by the team on Sunday. Especially after playing for a month in the UAE for the IPL, the team has failed to live up to the expectations.
“I don’t have words. How much can we even criticise? 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,” he concluded.
India are now fifth in Group 2 of Super 12s and only the top two teams will make it to the semi-finals. India have only three matches left to play, and has to win all their remaining matches in the tournament. India will have to ensure that they win by a big margin with their poor net run-rate after losing both their matches against Pakistan and New Zealand. India will play next against Afghanistan on Wednesday.
