‘They Chose IPL Over India’ Kapil Dev Slams Players, Fans Hail Him For Speaking Harsh Truth

Despite boasting one of the strongest squads, Team India’s journey in the T20 World Cup came to an early end as it bowed out of the muti-nation event despite registering three straight wins on the trot.

The Men in Blue began their campaign with two humiliating losses against arch-rival Pakistan and New Zealand and most fans knew it was their marching orders. 

Since then, different people have given different excuses, some have put the blame on the bio-bubble fatigue for the team’s downfall, while others have attacked the players for not playing to their potential.

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But many believe that it’s nothing but an excuse to divert the attention from players’ lacklustre performance in the marquee competition. 

Many legends of the game like Sunil Gavaskar and Harbhajan Singh have publicly said that in a huge tournament like the World Cup, there is no room for excuses.

Both of them are of the opinion that the only reason why India was eliminated was because of their poor batting performance in the encounters that mattered the most, and rather than giving excuses the management should’ve acknowledged that.

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While most cricket experts have failed to address the elephant in the room, legendary all-rounder and former India skipper Kapil Dev is the first high-profile name to address the main issue, without mincing any words.

The skipper, under whom India became world champions for the first time, was disappointed with the fact that our players ‘didn’t take pride in playing for the country and prioritised IPL over T20 World Cup’.

“When players prioritise IPL over playing for the country, what can we say? Players should take pride in playing for their nation. I don’t know their financial condition so can’t say much,” Kapil Dev said during an interaction on ABP News.  

“I feel that first in line should be the country’s team and then franchises. I’m not saying do not play cricket there (IPL), but the responsibility is now on the BCCI to plan its cricket better,” he added. 

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Even fans agreed with the former all-rounder and blamed the players for their own downfall.  

They praised the legend for speaking against the players and showing them the mirror by highlighting their hypocrisy. 

Finally someone showed power to speak against BCCI.
Thank you Kapil Dev sir for busting the current Indian players who prefer IPL over Nation’s Cricket.

They have been playing IPL from past 1 month, still unable to even reach Semifinals.

— सूरज (@AnIndianBoi) November 8, 2021

That’s true. IPL is killing international cricket. Players of other boards are also preferring IPL over their national cricket team for money and fame. This a very unhealthy practice for the future of cricket .

— Vivek (@KrVivek79) November 8, 2021

Now the management(Arun, Ravi shastri and others) are blaming of fatigue and bio bubble.. these players are getting highest of the facilities and even their family is staying with them 24/7. If they were that much worried of fatigue, they should ve made way for others players.

— Akshay.Upadhye (@AksayTweets4SSR) November 8, 2021

Finally someone is bold enough to speak out truth..

— Yogesh Kumar (@doctoryogesh82) November 8, 2021

It’s actually true… Compare their performances in IPL and ICC you’ll know!

— Sim (@simsunner18) November 8, 2021 

Players knew the schedule in advance and if they were this worried about the physical and mental burnout they should have pulled out their names from the IPL.  

Nobody forced them to feature in the IPL but they decided to play in the league owing to the hefty paychecks that they receive from their franchises. 

Knowing everything, they made the decision to play in the second leg of the IPL and it doesn’t make any sense when they come up with excuses to cover up for their disappointing run in the tournament.