Former India captain Kapil Dev recently made a comment on Rishabh Pant. He thinks it is the job of a talented cricketer like him to prove his critics wrong. Pant has been out of the squad after receiving criticism for his inconsistency with both the bat and keeping gloves.
“Pant is so talented. He cannot blame anybody. He has to look after his own career. The only way for him is to keep on getting runs and prove everybody wrong. When you are talented, it is your job to prove people wrong,” India’s first World Cup-winning captain said.
KL Rahul replaced Pant in the squad after he got a concussion during the first ODI of the Australia series. Rahul did a fantastic job with both bat and gloves. His performance impressed Virat Kohli so much that he said Rahul will don the wicket-keeping gloves in the New Zealand series as well.
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“The players have to look after themselves. They should never give the option to the selectors to drop them or give them a rest. It is the team management’s call. I don’t know about these things. It is not my decision. The team has to decide who opens, who bats at No. 3 etc,” Kapil Dev added.
He was asked about the Indian fast bowlers getting injured more often these days, he had a great reply.
“When you play 10 months in a year, you will get injured. You have to look after the fast bowlers. The conditions and weather in India is more challenging than other parts of the world. The team management will have to take care of them,” he added. “Pandya has to be worried. He should be worried about how fast he can get fit and come back into the team. That’s important. He has to look after himself.”
He also commented on former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s retirement, Dev said it will be “our loss” whenever he retires from cricket.
“He has served the country so well for so many years. One day, he has to retire. It will be sooner or later. He has to go at some time. He is not playing matches. So I don’t know when he is going to come out and say he has had enough. It will be our loss whenever he retires,” Kapil Dev concluded.
