Kapil Dev believes that India’s habit of making constant changes to their playing XI came back to haunt them in the first Test against New Zealand.
Talking to ABP News, the former India captain said that players can’t perform to their potential if they aren’t allowed to feel secure in the team.
“I have to praise New Zealand, they are playing very good cricket,” said Dev. “The 3 ODIs and the first Test match, they have been excellent. If we analyse this match critically, well, I do not understand how one can make so many changes. There is a new team in almost every match. No one in the team is permanent, if there is no security over your place, it will affect the form of the players.”
The legendary all-rounder even questioned India’s batting order, which failed in both innings in Wellington. “Such big names in the batting order, if you cannot score even 200 runs in two innings, you have not been able to conquer conditions. You have to focus more on planning and strategy,” he said.
Dev even expressed his displeasure over KL Rahul’s exclusion from India’s Test squad. The 1983 World Cup-winning captain said this move “does not make any sense”.
“I do not understand. There is a lot of difference between when we played and what is happening now. When you build a team, you have to give confidence to players. When there are so many changes made, it does not make any sense. Management believes in format-specific players. Rahul is in great form, he is sitting out, it does not make sense. I believe when a player is in form, he needs to play,” Dev said.