India’s former World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has urged Rohit Sharma to be more aggressive as a skipper and adopt Bazball like England. Dev wants the team to play for wins and not draws and feels all the teams will have to think like the English team.
England continued their aggressive approach against Australia in the recently concluded Ashes as they drew the series by 2-2 after losing the first two matches.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma was rested from the last two ODIs against the West Indies. The Indian skipper scored 240 runs in two Test matches against the Windies at an average of 80.
“Bazball is wonderful. The series between England and Australia was one of the finest series I have seen in recent times. I think cricket should be played like that. Rohit is good. But he must be more aggressive. You have to think about how teams like England play now. And it’s not just us. All cricket-playing countries have to think on those lines. Winning the game should be the highest priority (not play for draws) for all teams,” Kapil Dev said while talking to Times of India.
Dev added that India should be more focused on qualifying for the semifinal in the ODI World Cup. Team India had lost the 2019 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand and they will be looking to end their ICC Trophy drought.
“They need to come in the top four (semi-finals) first. After that, anything is possible. You need a stroke of luck from the semi-final stage onwards and need things to go your way. But the most important thing is to reach the top four,” he stated.
Players like Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant are currently out of action due to their respective injuries but Dev feels it is imperative to manage the players’ workload.
“Injuries are part and parcel of any player’s life. But I feel they (Indian team) are playing too much cricket. The fixtures committee should seriously look at how much cricket they want to give the team and its players,” Kapil added.
India will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 8th October.
