Kapil Dev deems captaincy debate unnecessary, says MS Dhoni is way ahead of Virat Kohli
Wonder Cement today unveiled a unique 7 a side tournament in Rajasthan which will see widespread participation from across the state. The chief guest for the day was former India captain and one of our most iconic cricketers of all time, Kapil Dev.
Commenting on his association with the tournament, he said, “I’m delighted to be a part of Wonder Cement Saath:7 Cricket Mahotsav. This is a wonderful platform to identify budding talent from within the state. This tournament will encourage greatly in identifying and grooming young cricketing talent in the state and my hope is that more of them go on to represent India.”
Emphasising on how the event can mobilise the sport further, he added, “I am happy that the game has corporates like Wonder Cement who are committed to encouraging budding talent in sports. The Wonder Cricket Academy at Udaipur that has trained over 450 sports enthusiasts so far.”
With a fledgling media presence, it was imperative that the 1983 World Cup-winning captain would be questioned on his latest comments about Sachin Tendulkar. Commenting upon them he said that he had been misquoted and obviously didn't mean to demean what the little blaster had achieved in his illustrious career.
About the ongoing series between India and South Africa, he voiced his support for Ravi Shastri who had expressed his displeasure about the pitch at Wankhede. Emphasising on the need to have a distinct advantage while playing at home, he said, “When you go into the 5th match and the series is tied 2-2, you ought to prepare a pitch which will support India; I wonder why that wasn't done in Mumbai.”
He added though that the team shouldn't be criticised for not doing well recently, “See, they played really well in the World Cup. Just one bad series here and so many of us are out with our knives, asking for overhauling of the squad. That shouldn't happen.”
Another question managed to extract what according to us was the response of the day. When asked if Virat Kohli is a better captain that MS Dhoni, Kapil said, “Baap-baap hota hai, abhi Kohli ko wahan pahunchne me time hai(It will take time for Kohli to mature and reach the heights that Dhoni has) !” He signed off conveying his wishes to the kids who will be part of the aforementioned Mahotsav, “All the very best, I know and firmly believe that with proper guidance, you too can play for India one day.”