'Money Comes, Arrogance Comes': Kapil Dev Slams India Stars Over Sunil Gavaskar's Remarks
1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev slammed India stars over Sunil Gavaskar's 'players don't ask for advice' remark, saying that the current lot of players feels 'they know everything'.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar, one of the most respected voices in international cricket, had recently said that no player from the current lot ever contacted him for any tips or suggestions. The 74-year-old also revealed that this was not the case in the past as stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman used to regularly come up to him for guidance. "No, no one has come. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman regularly came to me...I don't have an ego about this...sometimes you hold back since you don't want to confuse them with too much information," Gavaskar recently told The Indian Express.
However, India's 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev feels there is always room for improvement.
"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," Kapil Dev said on The Week.
"Sometimes too much money comes, 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."
Gavaskar urges chief selector Ajit Agarkar to 'not repeat same old story'
India vs West Indies two-match ended on a bittersweet note as the visitors had a great chance to attaining a 2-0 whitewash when rain played spolisport, forcing a draw in the 2nd Test. While senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli shined with their performances, youngsters Yashasvi Jasiwal and Ishan Kishan too proved their mettle in the longest format.
However, Sunil Gavaskar wasn't impressed as in one of his columns for Mid-Day, the veteran questioned selectors' choices to not try any youngsters in the series.
"The runs scored by Rohit and Kohli against this West Indies attack begs the question what did the selectors learn that they didn't know already. Wouldn't it have been better to try out some youngsters and see how they take to Test cricket or is it that the selectors don't want any sort of challenge from the younger lot to the established players," Gavaskar wrote.
The ex-India skipper hopes for a change with Ajit Agarkar's appointment as the new BCCI chief selector.
"Now that Ajit Agarkar has come on board as the Chairman of the selection committee let's see if there is going to be any change in the approach to building a team for the future or if it's going to be the same old story of the Indian team being the bridesmaid but not the bride," the legendary Indian opener said.
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