Kapil Dev, the captain of the Indian team that lifted the cricket World Cup in 1983, has blasted his country’s players for putting personal interests ahead of national pride and duty after they failed to book a place in the T20 World Cup semi finals.
India lost their group matches to India and New Zealand that effectively put the team out of the running within a week of the commencement of the month long competition and beat underdog teams like Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia.
“When the players prefer to play IPL over playing for the country, what can we say? I believe that every player should feel proud playing for their country. I believe that your national team should come first and after that franchise or any other team,” Kapil told ABP News.
The Times of India daily said that preparations for the next T20 World Cup, in Australia next year, should begin immediately calling for the infusion of young players like Ruturaj Gaikwad to open the batting with Rohit Sharma who is tipped to take over the captaincy from Virat Kohli who announced he was leaving the leadership role before the start of the T20 World Cup in the UAE where the IPL was also held.
According to news reports The Hindustan Times reported that after their exit was sealed on Sunday, India called off a training session ahead of the final match against Namibia on Monday “as players brooded what might have been”.
“India’s inability to hold their weight in knockout rounds of ICC events has been sticking out like a sore thumb. This time they have also missed the bus to reach the last four,” the newspaper said.