'We always reach S/F or final, is it any less?': Kapil Dev says it's not possible for India 'to win trophy every time'
Amid all the noise surrounding India's inability to land an ICC title, former all-rounder Kapil Dev has come to the rescue of the team.
Amid all the noise surrounding India's inability to land an ICC title, former all-rounder Kapil Dev has come to the rescue of the team. India have been heavily criticised for failing to win an ICC trophy in the last eight years, but Kapil, the World Cup winning captain in 1983, feels people are quick to criticise and ignore the fact that the unit has been constantly making it to the knockouts.
In every ICC event from 2014 to 2021, India has at least made it to the semi-final before losing a crunch tie. They finished semi-finalists in the 2015 World Cup, 2016 World T20 and the 2019 World Cup, while emerging runner-up in 2014 World T20, 2017 Champions Trophy and the recently-concluded World Test Championship final. Kapil defended India for their performances, explaining how it's not possible each time for the hard work to culminate in the form of a trophy.
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"We always reach the semi-finals or final, is it any less? We criticise too early. It is not possible that you will win the trophy every time. Look at how good they (Team India) played, after losing only one match like final or semi-final should we say that we cannot handle the pressure?" Kapil said during a discussion with India Today.
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While taking nothing away from India's effort, Kapil lauded New Zealand for their show as they trumped the opposition by eight wickets to emerge winners of the first-ever World Test Championship. It was New Zealand's first ICC title since winning the Champions Trophy way back in the year 2000, where they had beaten India in the final. But despite the defeat, Kapil backed the Indian team and explained how there have been situations where the unit has played well and handled pressure better.
"It does not happen like that. That was their day and they played better. We see it too critically, if one performance goes bad then the media flashes it a hundred times. Under a similar pressure situation, we and the current lot have won many matches," he added.