Former Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev has said that batting will determine India’s fate in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand starting June 18. The 1983 World Cup-winning captain added that India needs to take the game session by session as the weather in England changes within minutes.
“India look a superior batting side. How they tackle the conditions is important. To me, India’s batting will hold the key. The bowlers provide a solid back-up to India’s cricket campaigns these days but the quality of batsmen will stand out in the final,” Dev said.
“Test cricket is about sessions. Each can be intriguing because of the weather factor. Within minutes, it changes from sunny to cloudy. So you have to be tactically good and technically sound when you play in England,” he said in an interview to Mid-Day newspaper.
The 62-year-old also warned Kohli for his over-aggressive nature against the opposition and said that wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has improved from the time he came into the side but still needs to be cautious in England.
“I expect him (Kohli) to excel. Can you really shackle him? He is a natural when it comes to adapting but I would caution him to not be over-aggressive. He will have to measure it session by session. He’ll be better off waiting for his moments of dominance. He will get his runs with a bit of patience,” said Dev.
“Trying too hard and too early doesn’t work in England where you need to watch the movement of the ball. If you play seam and swing well, show patience, you will succeed in England.”
He said that Pant needs to spend time in the middle and get used to the English conditions before going for any shot.
“He looks a very mature cricketer now from the time he came into the side. He seems to have far more time to play his shots and obviously his range of strokes is awesome. But England will be challenging. He must spend more time in the middle and not just look to hit every ball. We used to say the same about Rohit Sharma, who had so many shots, but would step out and get out so many times,” said Dev.
Meanwhile, he also stated that Lord’s should have been picked as the venue for the WTC final and there should be more than one final.
“I would have preferred more than just one match to decide such an important title… Maybe, Lord’s would have been a better venue than Rose Bowl because the ground has a great history. Even Manchester [Old Trafford] would have been a good choice but there is something about celebrating a win at Lord’s.”
