Former Cricketer of the Century Kapil Dev, Defends MS Dhoni

Posted by Betwala on July 16th, 2019

Sports fans from around the world were excited to see Kapil Dev at Old Trafford. This historically renowned India cricket player arrived at the venue last Tuesday and became the guest radio commentator for 'Channel 2' during the first semi-final match between India and New Zealand. He visited this venue because it holds a special place in his heart. 

He once led India to a six-wicket win against England on June 22, 1983, during that tournament's semi-finals. His team would later defeat the West Indies by 43 runs in the finals. 

So far he’s been very impressed with India’s recent cricket scores and their overall performance in the tournament. He’s proud of the team being the top group in the league stage and feels they’ve earned their success. “I feel proud of our team. Things have changed a lot in the last few years and we are a major force in world cricket. It's great to see a team which is athletic and doing well on the field," Kapil said.

But the team is not immune to being criticized and the most constant ones are aimed towards the former captain, MS Dhoni’s strike rate of 93.30. Kapil defended Dhoni by stating these criticisms aren’t fair to the player and what he’s going through happens to the best athletes. "It's very unfair to criticize Dhoni. It has happened to those who have been rated as all-time greats. They are not going to be 20 all over again," he explained. 

Kapil believes that the most important thing is that Dhoni is doing good by the team’s standards. That it’s okay if Dhoni is not completely meeting public expectations. “The biggest problem is we expect so much from our heroes. He is doing a fabulous job for the team and an integral member of the thinktank,” he said. 

Kapil states that Dhoni’s calming presence and Virat’s aggressive methods have made the duo very effective in the tournament. He also believes that Dhoni is good at wicketkeeping, just not as great as he was in his 20’s. 

He also stated that the ICC should increase the number of DRS reviews, especially for the knockouts. He eels that one review isn’t enough to something as big as a semi-final World Cup clash. "Why not two or three? Let it take five more minutes. Having just one DRS review for an important knockout stage is not fair. One run or a wicket can change the game," he said. 

MS Dhoni will have another chance to prove himself when the semi-final match continues on July 10, 2019. Keep track of his upcoming games by using sites like Betwala.com to get the latest cricket news in the world and get access to the livescore of every World Cup match.