Kapil Dev : Combination of Kohli’s aggression and Dhoni’s calmness can help India win 2019 WC
As the 2019 World Cup is fast approaching, Kapil Dev believes that a good combination of Virat Kohli’s aggression and MS Dhoni’s calmness can help India lift the 2019 World Cup. He has also advised Hardik Pandya to perform well in batting which would help him bowl with ease during matches.
In the past one and a half year, India has enjoyed a rampaging run of 10 consecutive ODI series victories with the latest one being a 5-1 win against South Africa in the rainbow nation. The best part of these victories has been that they have been very comprehensive wins over the opponents. Seeing the current run of form, Kapil Dev believes that a good combination of Kohli’s aggression and Dhoni’s calmness can help India in the World Cup next year.
"If you can have the combination there is nothing wrong because you need to have somebody on the field who is calm and quiet and also understands the game and somebody who is very aggressive," said Kapil Dev, reported AFP.
"But if everybody is very aggressive, then it's difficult. And again if everyone is calm, then also it is difficult. So if you can have a combination of both aggression and calmness, I think it will help the team," added the former Indian captain.
Hardik Pandya had a stellar start to his career in 2016 but has failed to live up to everyone’s expectations in the past few series. The Gujarat born player has together managed to score just 98 runs in the ODI series against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa. Even with the bowl, he managed to pick just 20 wickets in those series. The 59-year-old has expressed his desire to see Pandya as a batting all-rounder.
"I would like to see him in the team for one reason, definitely either as a bowler or a batsman. He has to work little harder on his batting because he is a batsman all-rounder. If he can perform a little more with the bat, the bowling will come easily to him and that's what happens to all-rounders," said India's greatest ever all-rounder.
"We have started expecting too much from him soon but I think he has the ability and is one of the finest athletes in the team. But he has to work harder to achieve success as an all-rounder," concluded the former world cup winner.