Legendary India allrounder and world cup winning captain Kapil Dev have questioned the changing mindset of today’s cricketers accepting that while the game has evolved since he is playing days but it’s saddening when someone can get tired after having bowled just four overs.
Kapil Dev slams Indian bowlers
Kapil was speaking in the context of a genuine fast-bowling allrounder which India have been struggling to find since Hardik Pandya picked a back injury but despite recovering from it, hasn’t been able to bowl at full tilt so far.
The result is he’s not part of India’s Test setup anymore and the absence of a player of his quality has been pointed out among several other reasons why India lost to New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship final last month.
“What I feel is that when you play 10 months of cricket in a year, you tend to get injured more,” Kapil said on Sports Yaari on YouTube.
“And cricket today is very basic – you either perform with the bat or the ball. But in our time, we had to do everything. So cricket today has changed. Sometimes it is saddening to see a player getting tired after bowling just four overs and I’ve heard they’re not allowed to bowl more than three or four overs.”
Continuing the discussion Kapil recalled that the mindset has changed fair bit as well. He said during practice, the bowlers would end up bowling 10 overs even to those who would come to bat at the end during his playing days.
“I remember in our time – I won’t say whether it’s right or wrong – even the last player who would come out and bat during the nets, we would end up bowling 10 overs to them as well. So that mindset has to be developed and that helps build muscles. Today perhaps those four overs are enough for them so we feel – for our generation – it feels a bit strange,” Kapil said.
