‘A little bit of injury, you will play IPL. A little bit of injury, you won’t play for India’: Kapil Dev drops bombshell

With months to go for the ODI World Cup, Team India’s preparations for the marquee home tournament hasn’t inspired much confidence so far.

In January, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team did make a strong start with series wins over Sri Lanka and New Zealand, but faced a 1-2 defeat at home to Australia two months later. With the Indian Premier League and World Test Championship final in the cricketing calendar, focus shifted to the other formats and as the side made an ODI return earlier this week against West Indies, the signs haven’t been quite encouraging.

Even when India did bowl the West Indies out for merely 114 in the first ODI, they lost five wickets in the run-chase after both, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli didn’t bat until the fifth wicket; Rohit had to bat with only Kohli remaining among recognized batters in the order. In the second ODI, Team India decided to rest both, Rohit and Kohli and endured a batting collapse, being bowled on 181 before conceding a six-wicket loss.

While Indian youngsters are still finding feet in the fifty-over format, some of the side’s key players – Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul – are still nursing their injuries, while Rishabh Pant also remains unavailable after a severe car accident in December last year. Combine everything, and the situation – at least at the moment – doesn’t look positive for Rohit and co. as they head into the ODI World Cup.

Former India captain Kapil Dev – who led India to their first-ever World Cup win in 1983 – hasn’t minced his words as he talked about India’s handling of injuries in the build-up to the World Cup. In an interview with The Week magazine, Kapil spoke in great detail about some of the key players like Bumrah and Pant, and insisted that the advent of the Indian Premier League has made it difficult for players to look after themselves.

“What happened to Bumrah? He started working with so much belief, but if he’s not there (in World Cup semi-final/final)… we wasted time on him. Rishabh Pant… such a great cricketer. Had he been there, our Test cricket would’ve been better,” Kapil said.

“God is kind, it’s not as if I never got injured. But today, they are playing 10 months in a year. Give a benefit of doubt to that, but everybody has to look after themselves. IPL is a great thing but IPL can spoil you also. Because, a little bit of injuries and you will play in IPL. A little bit of injuries, you won’t play for India. You would take a break. I’m being very open about it,” said the former India all-rounder.

Kapil also urged the Indian cricket board to be proactive in handling injury-related issues, as well as cricketing calendars.

“If you have a small injury, you would play in IPL if it’s an important game. At this stage, cricket board has to understand how much cricket they should play. That is the bottomline. If today, you have resources, money, but you don’t have three or five-year calendars. There’s something wrong with cricket board there,” said Kapil.

Earlier this month, the BCCI released a positive update on Bumrah, Iyer and Rahul, stating that all three are on track in their recovery process. Following the third and final ODI against West Indies on Tuesday, India will return to action in ODIs in the Asia Cup, where the side is placed alongside arch-rivals Pakistan and Nepal.