Kapil Dev: Collective Performance Key to India's T20 World Cup Hopes

India's first World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev believes that collective performance, not individual brilliance, will be crucial for Rohit Sharma's team to end their trophy drought at the T20 World Cup in the West Indies.

Kapil emphasized that every player has a role to play in winning a tournament, rather than relying solely on star performers like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, or Kuldeep Yadav. He pointed out that in his 1983 World Cup-winning team, he wasn't the only one who performed exceptionally.

"Roger Binny, Mohinder Amarnath, Kirti Azad, Yashpal Sharma all came out with match-winning performances. If you start depending on one player, it means you are not going to win tournaments more often," Kapil observed.

He lauded Bumrah's performance in the tournament so far, but downplayed the role of a captain. "Everybody can do captaincy. Hardik, Virat, Rohit everyone can do captaincy. When you give ball to somebody, the bowler has to do the job. Yes captain is there to help you out but it's not like if you don't win he is not a good captain."

Kapil expressed his optimism for India's chances in the semifinal against England and wished them luck. He highlighted the importance of India being perceived as title contenders in every global event.

"We should be happy that we are able to think that we can win. 20 years back, you weren't thinking. It's important that in every tournament India is going as a favourite. That's a big thing. We never thought about that. That's enough encouragement for a youngster to take up the sport. I am very happy to see where Indian cricket has reached wonderfully well," he emphasized.

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