JAIPUR: Former India skipper Kapil Dev feels that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is way ahead of Virat Kohli and it is too early to compare the Delhi boy’s Test captaincy to that of the Ranchi keeper’s as the leadership role is still very new to the stylish batsman.
“Baap Baap hota hai aur beta beta hota hai (Father is a father, and son’s a son),” said Kapil when asked who is a better captain between Dhoni and his successor in Tests.
“There is a still long way to go before Kohli the captain matches the achievements of Dhoni. Having said that, Kohli has been doing great as a batsman and I am sure he will be equally good as India’s captain,” said Kapil at the launch of Wonder Cement’s Cricket Mahotsav.
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 fifth 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.”
”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.”
When questioned on his latest comments about Sachin Tendulkar, the 1983 World Cup-winning captain said he had been misquoted and obviously didn’t mean to demean what the little blaster had achieved in his illustrious career.
Talking about Virender Sehwag’s retirement, Kapil felt the former India opener deserved a farewell game but the lack of it did not make him a lesser legend.
“We should leave it to selectors to decide. It is not possible to give everyone a farewell game. If you ask me, it doesn’t matter whether Sehwag played one more game for India.
”The fact is that he remains a great player. Azharuddin who played 99 Tests wanted one more game but it didn’t pan out that way,” he added.
Post announcing his retirement, Sehwag himself had expressed the desire of getting a fitting farewell from the game. (UNI)
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