'In patches we are still lacking in bowling, Rohit needs to be more compact' - Kapil Dev highlights areas India needs to address in T20 WC

Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev felt that the Rohit Sharma-led side needs to improve on certain aspects despite the comfortable win against the Netherlands. Rohit, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav’s half-centuries helped the Men in Blue post 179 on the board in their 20 overs. The Netherlands lost the game by 56 runs in the end and never looked like chasing down the total. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was fantastic with the new ball as he bowled two consecutive maidens and finished with 2 for 9 in his three overs while both the spinners were quite impressive too. KL Rahul was the only batter who failed to get going.

However, there was a time when the scoring rate was around six near the tenth over mark but some excellent hitting towards the end shadowed the early struggles with the bat.  Also, Arshdeep leaked a few runs in the final over which could have been avoided considering the big games to come.  

The bowling was good but still some loopholes were visible: Kapil Dev 

Kapil mentioned that India made up for the slow start in the final overs while batting and felt that the bowling needs perfection still. He further noted that the team lacked proper planning while bowling and highlighted the areas that need to be addressed.   

"The bowling has gotten better. In batting, I felt India could have scored more runs but in the last 10 overs, made up for it by scoring over 100 runs. See, the grounds are big and hence, the spinners gain a little bit of advantage. I would still say that in patches we are still lacking in bowling," Kapil said on ABP News. 

"Against a team like Netherlands, you should have proper planning as to where to bowl in terms of line and length. The biggest thing is that in such matches, there should not be no-balls or wides because you are practicing and need to win the match as well. So overall, I would say, the bowling was good but still some loopholes were visible," he added.

Kapil also went on to laud Suryakumar Yadav for making his chances count and felt that Rohit could have been a lot more compact. He added about Suryakumar filling in India’s search for a number four and wants Rahul to contribute more.

"Suryakumar Yadav has really grabbed his chances well in this team. To score runs so quickly, he should be praised more. India would still want their captain Rohit Sharma to be a little more compact, and want Rahul to score some runs. Virat Kohli should play anchor because he can accelerate, but if he gets the chance to play through the entire 20 overs, this team can chase down any total. In the last 1-2 years, he was the player we were struggling to find - who is going to bat for us at No.4? There were players but not the kind of contenders we have found in Suryakumar," he concluded.