Kapil Dev clears the air on Sachin, says his compliment was misinterpreted

FORMER INDIAN CRICKETER Kapil Dev is upset that his comments about Sachin Tendulkar have been misunderstood, leading to criticism from the cricketing fraternity.

According to a report published in The Hindu, Kapil explains why he said what he said and that there was nothing wrong about it. 

“Needless is the word. Sachin, I’ve always said, was a fabulous cricketer and more talented than Viv (Richards). He had the calibre to be as ruthless, or more, but did not deliver as much as I had expected. He got 100 international 100s but his potential was greater.”

“How else could I have described him? He was an underachiever and that I maintain was a compliment. He could have done better. Am I wrong?”

He went on to draw comparisons with a similar remark he received from Sunil Gavaskar in his playing days. 

“Gavaskar used to say that I should have scored 5000 runs more than what I did. In hindsight, I agree I should have taken my batting seriously. But importantly, I didn’t take Gavaskar’s remark in the wrong sense. He challenged me and I accepted it.”

Kapil also said that Sachin did not grow as he wanted him to grow.

“Sachin was clearly ahead of his time but he did not grow as I wanted him to grow. I loved the Sachin of Sharjah 1998 when he clubbed the Australians. His dominance was complete and stroke-play so imperious. He made good bowlers look ordinary, could hit boundaries at will but that Sachin was lost somewhere as his career progressed.”

Kapil further explained his remark on Mumbai cricket that led to several former Mumbai cricketers misinterpreting it and reacting to it.

“I would be silly if I doubted their calibre. Has Bombay not won 40 Ranji Trophy titles and 15 in a row? What an awesome record! Players from outside Bombay learnt to be professional from them. The Bombay batsmen believe in playing correct cricket — technically supreme, no reverse sweeps or upper cuts. But the game has changed. You have to be ruthless now. With the exception of Sandeep Patil and to some extent Vinod Kambli, Mumbai has not produced ruthless cricketers. Now we have Ajinkya (Rahane) and Rohit (Sharma) batting differently, wanting to dominate.”

He added that he respects Mumbai cricket, but it is now time to change with changing times and let go off the petty regionalism that has been gripping Mumbai cricket for years.

“I respect Mumbai cricket and cricketers. They laid the base for the growth of Indian cricket but the game has changed and it is time we all realised and accepted it. We also need to rise above petty regionalism. Mumbai is mine too. We would like to see Mumbai cricket and cricketers to move on. It is not about Mumbai, Haryana or Delhi.. It is about Indian cricket... Also, (Ajit) Wadekar Sir should please understand that I am a true Indian and Mumbai is part of us. I am a Bombaywalah too.”

Coming back to Sachin, Kapil had few more words of praise for the batting legend.

“There comes a time when one says enough is enough. In Sachin’s case it was never enough.”

“He was worth much more and that is what I meant.”

“Does he not call me Paaji ? Can an elder brother not say what he feels about his younger brother? I did precisely that.”

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