Pandya needs to perform with ball: Kapil
New Delhi, June 12: Kapil Dev wants Hardik Pandya to be better than him but Wednesday said the flamboyant cricketer needs to improve his bowling to become a complete all-rounder like the legend was in his heydays.
Pandya has grown rapidly as an international cricketer since making his India debut in January 2016. He has played many memorable knocks with the bat but his bowling figures pale in comparison.
“Let’s not compare, let him play. We have already seen his rich talent and I want him to be better than me. He is an all-rounder, he has to perform in both the departments. Yes he is a batting all-rounder I can feel that, so I hope he can improve in his bowling. He is a great team man and that is more important,” Kapil said.
Pandya averages 30.53 in 47 ODIs with the bat and he also has a Test hundred. His bowling average of 41.97 in ODIs is on the higher side with 44 wickets to his name while he has taken 17 wickets in 11 Tests at 31.05.
His rapid rise led to comparisons with Kapil, something Pandya himself did not appreciate, saying ‘let me be myself ’. Talking about the untimely thumb injury to opener Shikhar Dhawan in the World Cup, Kapil said he feels sorry for the in-form batsman who scored a hundred against Australia on Sunday.
“I feel sorry for him and I feel sorry about the team but you can’t do much about injuries. I can only think positive and whoever plays in his place, he might do even better. But yes you feel bad when such a big player is injured,” said the World Cup winning skipper without specifying his preference for Rohit Sharma’s partner in Dhawan’s absence.
Kapil hopes India will maintain their winning run. “I hope they carry on like this and it doesn’t rain.”
We have already seen his rich talent and I want him to be better than me. He is an all-rounder, he has to perform in both the departments. — KAPIL DEV, FORMER INDIA SKIPPER