Former India captain Kapil Dev has taken a jibe at current Indian players over Sunil Gavaskar’s remark that no one approaches him for advice as well. The veteran also hinted that the current crop of cricketers seems to have become arrogant as they are earning a lot of money now, adding that they look like they know everything as well.
In an interview to The Week magazine, Kapil Dev said: “Differences come out, the good (thing) about these players…is that they are very confident. Negative point is they think they know everything. I don’t know how to put it better than that. But they are confident, but they think ‘you don’t have to ask anybody’. What we believe is an experienced person can help you.”
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“Sometimes when there is too much money, arrogance comes. These cricketers think they know everything. That’s the difference. I would say there are so many cricketers who need help. When Sunil Gavaskar is there, why can’t you talk? Where is the ego? There is no ego as such. They feel ‘we are good enough’. Maybe they are good enough, but extra help from somebody who has seen 50 seasons of cricket, he knows things. Listening sometimes can change your thought,” Kapil Dev further added.
In the same interview, he also rejected Ravi Shastri’s suggestion that talented India all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s body cannot cope with the rigours of te longer format as well. Meanwhile, after India’s loss to Australia in the WTC 2023 final, Gavaskar recalled how former cricketers like Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar approached him for advice as well.
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Gavaskar told The Indian Express: “No, no one has come. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman regularly came to me. And they would approach me with a specific problem and you could tell them something which you had observed. I don’t have an ego about this, I could go and talk to them but since there are two coaches – Rahul Dravid and Vikram Rathore – so sometimes you hold back since you don’t want to confuse them with too much information.”
