Harshita
NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricket team captain Kapil Dev comes out in support of the current captain Virat Kohli and Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Team India is going though going through a rough patch currently but Kapil Dev is confident that the team which has such legendary players will bounce back fast.
Kohli, who went past the score of 50 on the tour of New Zealand and then was sent back to the pavilion for 2 and 19 in the first Test, has not been able to win a single match after the historic T20I win against the Kiwis. Talking about the leader of the Men in Blue, Dev said, "He is a great player and great players come back much stronger than normal players do. He will bounce back, I have no doubt. He still has lots of good cricket in him."
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On the other hand, it was the first time when Bumrah, who is considered the world's number 1 bowler, returned wicketless in the ODI series and also gave away 88 runs with only 1 wicket. In his case, the World Cup-winning captain said, "Once you get an injury it takes time for the body to recover completely. He is a very fine bowler and he proved it before. A person who has proven himself at that level. As batsmen, we say you need one innings to come back to form and you need one good spell for a bowler. I am a positive person and always think that he needs one or two wickets to get back. Players like him and Virat Kohli, they are champions and they bounce back faster."
Kohli after losing the second ODI to the Black Caps, thus, confirming India's series defeat, said that the 50-over matches are not relevant this year as compared to Tests ad T20s. However, Kapil Dev did not agree to this and said, "They have given their side of the story. As a cricket lover, every match is important to me. What (the team) management said, that is up to them but as a former cricketer, I would say every Test, One Day and T20 match is important. If not, then we should never talk about statistics. Why to say someone played so many Test matches and made so many runs. I would like to say that winning is the most important thing. If you have not played well, just take it and give respect to the opposition by saying that they played better than us."
Kapil reasoned that India's loss in the first Test was because the batsmen were not ready for the NZ's bowlers. He said, "That's why they lost. There is nothing to talk about that. If they had worked hard on that they wouldn't have lost the test. I think they are professional today, they understand the game and they will come out much harder in the next Test. If not, then give all the praise to New Zealand team."
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The second Test between the nations will commence on 29th February at Christchurch's Hagley Oval.
