Kapil Dev compares Yuvraj Singh to McEnroe and Maradona

Kapil Dev hails Yuvraj’s return

India’s World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev termed Yuvraj Singh as a “crowd puller like John McEnroe” and hailed the 34-year-old’s comeback into the T20 team for the tour of Australia in January 2016 after his impressive performance in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.

“Yuvraj Singh is an exciting cricketer. He is a genuine crowd puller. Just like you wanted to see John McEnroe or Diego Maradona. People came to watch them in action. Yuvraj is that sort of a player," Kapil said.

"He brings in people be it his batting, bowling or fielding. He is a match winner. For me, the question is whether he believes in himself. He can bat at any position like No 5 or No 6 as he has the experience," Kapil added.

MS Dhoni, who has been named as the team’s captain until T20 World Cup, and Virat Kohli, who beat the world No.1 ranked Test team 3-0, earned Kapil’s praise.

"Virat has an attitude of a fast bowler despite being a batsman. With Australia you need to be aggressive and in your face. Teams of the past didn't have that attitude of looking into opposition's eye. This was started by Sourav Ganguly who got a good team and despite being a Bengali was aggressive," Kapil chuckled.

The 56-year-old also expects Mohammed Shami to return strongly and praised Ajinkya Rahane for his ability to adapt and called his innings as one of his finest efforts in Tests.

"He is coming back after injury so I expect him to have done a proper rehab. Obviously the last 3-4 months will be important," the all-rounder added.

Of Rahane, he said: "No one will be able to forget his two centuries against South Africa in Delhi Test match. The hallmark of a big player is being able to score in all conditions. Ajinkya Rahane is slowly becoming the most complete cricketer. He is an aggressive stroke player.”

When asked about his strategy of going about winning the series in Australia, Kapil Dev said he would want his bowlers to take at least 3 wickets in the first 15 overs.

“The captain should tell Shami, Umesh or Ishant that I won't mind if the score is 90 after 15 overs but it should be 90/3. It is far better than 40/0 after 15 overs. You can't win matches in Australia with restrictive bowling. If you get 3 in first 15, you can restrict them for 280 which is chaseable nowadays in Australia.”