India is a far better team on paper than Pakistan, says Kapil Dev

The captain of the side who won the first world cup for India, Kapil Dev, believes that India is by far a superior team than Pakistan in paper. Thousands of fans wearing either blue or green jersey will occupy Edgbaston on the 4th of June, in the hope of seeing their team win.

Considered as the greatest rivalry in cricket after Ashes, arch-rivals India and Pakistan will go head to head again in an ICC tournament. India always had the upper-hand against the neighbours in the ICC World Cup and ICC World Cup T20 but ICC Champions Trophy holds a different story altogether. While Pakistan suffered defeats against India in every ICC World Cup and ICC World Cup T20 match they met, they have a slightly superior record in the Champions Trophy with a 2-1 win loss ration.

Opinion of Kapil Dev:

In the three encounters between the teams, Pakistan came out victorious twice, while India has won just one match. But Kapil Dev feels parity will be restored on the 4th of June, as the current Pakistan team lacks what it takes to defeat a classy outfit like India. On the unveiling event of his own wax statue in New Delhi’s Madame Tussauds museum, he said “Whichever team plays well on that given day will win. However, India looks far better on paper.”

Although the excitement regarding this mega-match is very high, the international relationship shared between the two countries is not very cordial at the moment. When asked about this, Dev replied “We should leave it to the government and not talk about all this. Sports persons want to play but the government policy comes first. Whatever the government policy is, we should respect that.”

Record in ICC Champions Trophy:

Pakistan may have the upper-hand in terms of head-to-head record in ICC Champions Trophy, India is leading in terms of success at the tournament. India, who are the defending champions, have won two editions of the tournament (one is shared with Sri Lanka). On the other hand, Pakistan has never managed to reach the final. Pakistan supporters will be hoping that their team manages to prove Kapil Dev wrong, whereas Indian fans will be hoping that their side lives up to the expectations of their first ever ICC World Cup winning captain. Who will come out on top? The answer will be revealed only on the 4th of June.