Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev during a promotional event at Chandigarh Press Conference on Monday. Kamleshwar Singh Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev during a promotional event at Chandigarh Press Conference on Monday. Kamleshwar Singh

By Prabal Sharma

With over 5,000 runs and 400 wickets in Test cricket, Kapil Dev remains one of the top most all-rounders to don the India colours. With all-rounder Hardik Pandya showing an impressive display of his all-round abilities in the first Test match of the India-South Africa Test series in South Africa, Kapil, who started his cricket at Sector 16 Cricket Stadium, termed Pandya’s performance as a brilliant one.

“Our time was different. These boys are at a level which we were never at. It is unfair to compare two players of different eras as it doesn’t do justice to either of them. Not only all-rounders but even bowlers and batsmen right now are better. Even if you drop a player for a series that doesn’t mean the end, it totally depends on the management and the selectors as to what they feel is right for the moment. As far as Hardik is concerned, he’s doing a brilliant job,” shared Dev, who was announced as the brand ambassador of Chandigarh-based start-up Pumpkart.

In his almost two-decade-long playing career, Kapil scored 5,248 runs in 131 Test matches apart from claiming 434 wickets. The former all-rounder also scored more than 3,500 runs during his ODI career apart from claiming 253 wickets. The last few years have seen the Indian team losing an all-rounder and the emergence of Hardik Pandya has provided relief to the Indian selectors.

“There wasn’t something missing when India didn’t have Pandya because I feel, having an all-rounder is a bonus but not having one isn’t a drawback. The presence of all-rounders gives the captain an extra choice in both departments of batting and bowling but that also comes with double pressure of taking wickets and scoring runs. When I started, I did play matches at number 11. I did improve my batting because a bowler has to bat eventually but not all batsmen can bowl. I was fortunate enough that I excelled in both departments,” said the former Indian captain.

Kapil also shared his thoughts on the current Indian team and their show in South Africa so far. “It is not that the team isn’t playing well but that they can do better. It is the same with other teams. When they come to India, they can barely play on spinning tracks. It is also unfair to depend on two players for success as there are 11 who play and 5 who sit outside. If something goes wrong, everyone is responsible. If Virat Kohli got out, there is still no batsman with his numbers out there,” concluded the former all-rounder.

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