T20 World Cup 2021: Backing Virat Kohli to win the trophy on captaincy swansong, says former chief selector MSK Prasad

New Delhi: Virat Kohli-led India will open their campaign in the upcoming T20 World Cup against traditional rivals Pakistan on 24 October. India, who won the inaugural edition of the event in 2007, have failed to repeat the feat despite coming close twice. In 2014, a rampant India were stopped in the final by a Kumar Sangakkara masterclass in Dhaka, while in 2016, a stunning assault from West Indian power hitters made a mockery of India’s 192/2 in the semi-final in Mumbai. Come T20 World Cup 2021, former chief selector MSK Prasad reckons that Kohli’s team may be a seamer short given the fact that India are scheduled to play most of their matches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In this freewheeling conversation, Prasad, who is also a Star Sports Telugu commentator, speaks on team balance, Yuzvendra Chahal’s absence, Virat Kohli’s legacy, and more. Excerpts: What do you make of India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2021? Do you think we have the right balance for the conditions? I personally feel that one more seamer would have added more balance to the squad, considering the number of matches we are going to play in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I think we could have had one extra seamer, more so with Hardik Pandya not bowling. That would have provided ideal balance to the side. If IPL 2021 is an indication, the tracks in UAE are not going to be very easy for batting. The pitches in Sharjah have been particularly testing for the batters and teams have struggled to score 135-140. But luckily for India, we are not playing too many matches there. The tracks in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where we shall be playing most of our games, are a lot better. That’s precisely why I feel an extra seamer would have helped. In such conditions, five spinners are a luxury. Maybe we are carrying an extra spinner. I don’t know whether India will make any changes in the squad before 10 October; I don’t think that’s even possible. I can’t say whether dropping a player from the squad to accommodate someone else is appropriate or not. It is a tricky situation. Selectors would have thought on many fronts before announcing the squad. I am sure factors of form, conditions and experience must have been considered. So, I don’t think India will be thinking of making any changes to the squad now. What do you make of Yuzvendra Chahal’s absence? He has roared back in form in the ongoing IPL. How much will India miss his services at the World Cup? Yuzvendra Chahal has always been our biggest asset in T20 format. He is, in fact, India’s highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket. Unfortunately, at the time of team selection, his form was not up to the mark. Of whatever I know, selectors were not happy with Chahal’s form in four-six months leading to the selection. [caption id=“attachment_10011351” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Yuzvendra Chahal has regained his form in the ongoing UAE leg of the IPL. Image: Sportzpics[/caption] Rahul Chahar, on the other hand, has been instrumental in Mumbai Indians winning back-to-back IPL trophies. That is the reason they have preferred Chahar over Chahal. In ideal conditions, Chahal with all his experience and guile would have been a better choice, but unfortunately for him, he lost his form at the wrong time. Barring KL Rahul, no Indian batter has really fired in IPL 2021, more so in the UAE leg. Does that bother you? I think KL Rahul is in top form. Virat has been scoring. Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma have been among runs; I won’t say they are out of form. The only real cause of concern was Ishan Kishan, and he has announced his return to form with a 25-ball 50 against Rajasthan Royals recently. I have no doubt that Surya will do very well at T20 World Cup. He has played over 150-160 IPL matches. He has a very mature head on his shoulders. The relative failure of Surya and Ishan Kishan this season is largely because of the pitches they have batted on. In the first leg, they played a majority of their matches in Chennai where the pitch was low and slow. And here in UAE, they have played quite a few games in Sharjah which has been quite sluggish. Since India will be playing a lot of their matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi where pitches are truer, Surya will definitely come good. Which team/s will pose the biggest challenge to India and why? I think West Indies and England will pose a lot of challenges to most teams, not just India. That’s because both these teams have solid talent and they are well tuned to this format. In the case of West Indies, a lot of players are playing in the IPL so they have a fair idea of the pitches. English players are not playing this leg of IPL but a majority of their players participated in the previous edition of the IPL which was held in UAE. So yes, these two teams can give us a good challenge. This will be Virat Kohli’s last assignment as a T20 skipper. Your thoughts on his legacy? Virat as a captain has won a number of bilateral series. He has got us series wins in South Africa, England, and Australia. As a captain he has done very well in this format, there are no two ways about it. We must not forget that this will be his first and last assignment as a captain in T20 World Cup. Since he has already announced that he will be stepping down as skipper of the T20 side after the World Cup, I would like to see him go on a high, with the Cup in his hands. It’ll be the icing on the cake. [caption id=“attachment_9443511” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] T20 World Cup 2021 will be Virat Kohli’s final assignment as T20 skipper. File image.[/caption] Also, I feel we need Virat that batter who has given us a lot of joy in the last decade. Getting 70 international tons in a decade is phenomenal, and I’d much rather have that Virat than the one who is presumably besieged with captaincy duties. Look, captaincy in cricket is unlike any other sport. Here, a captain has to deal with team selection, media duties, dealing with players who you had to leave out, and so on. So, I think quitting the T20 captaincy is his best decision and I am backing him to win the IPL trophy as well as the T20 World Cup. Catch IPL and Men’s T20 World Cup exclusively on Star Sports Network