Legendary India cricketer and 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has said that India should not think that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will win the ODI World Cup 2023 for Team India.
“If you want to win the World Cup, the coach, selectors, and team management will have to make some tough decisions. Personal interests will have to take a backseat and they will need to think about the team. Aap Virat pe, Rohit pe ya 2-3 players pe bhadosa karenge ki wo hume World Cup jeetayenge toh aisa kabhi bhi nahi ho sakta (If you think Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and 2-3 players will win us the World Cup then that’s never going to happen). You should believe in your team. Do we have such a team? Definitely. Do we have certain match winners? Yes, of course! We have players who can win the World Cup,” Kapil told ABP News.
Rohit is currently the all-format captain of Team India and he has failed to hit a ODI century in the last two years. Kohli is also not in his prime form for quite some time now and he managed to score a ODI century after 36 months in the third match against Bangladesh in December.
Kapil said Rohit and Kohli are important players but the time has come to give opportunities to the young players.
“There are always a couple of players who turn out to be the pillars of your side. The team revolves around them but we need to break that and build at least 5-6 players like that. That’s why I say, you can’t depend on Virat and Rohit. You need players who fulfil each of their responsibilities. The youngsters will need to come forward and say ‘it is our time’,” the legendary all-rounder said.
“The biggest positive is that the World Cup will happen in India. Nobody knows the conditions better than we do. For the last 8-10 years, Rohit and Virat have been two of the most important cricketers for India. Many have started to ask the question if this will be Virat and Rohit’s last World Cup. I believe they can play but they will need to work really hard. Fitness will play a key role. There are a lot of youngsters coming up, will they be able to compete with them? There is a question mark but it depends on how they want to play their game. There is no shortage of ability,” he added.
Rohit and Kohli are set to play in the upcoming three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka.The first match of the series will be played on January 10.
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