Dubai: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni should consider not playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), insists one of his captaincy predecessors, the legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev.
Speaking to Gulf News about whether Dhoni should give up the captaincy of India given that they are struggling for victories at home and abroad, Dev said: “It’s time Dhoni considered giving up playing in the IPL. It’s not easy for anyone who is playing 300 days of the year. One cannot expect him to keep on playing like this all the time.”
When asked whether he could suggest a replacement captain, Dev said: “It is not for me to suggest a new captain, but someone has to be appointed based on his leadership capabilities.”
Dev is one of the commentators for Cricket Radio for the India-Pakistan one-day series along with Sunil Gavaskar, Wasim Akram and Rameez Raja.
Ajay Sethi, Chairman of Dubai-based Channel 2 Group Corporation, has roped in the stars to add lustre to the series.
Dev said: “All the excitement of an India-Pakistan series is due to the passion of cricket fans from both the countries. It would be nice if contests are held regularly between the two countries.”
However, Dev feels that when and where Pakistan and India should play each other in the future should be left to their respective governments. In response to a question about what India need to do to dominate Pakistan, he said: “India have always dominated Pakistan and even now we have good combinations in the side. But Pakistan need to be lauded for their performance because as a team they have gone through a tough time, and to come over to India and put on a fine show is really commendable.”
Dev, who was instrumental in inspiring many youngsters to become pace bowlers, believes he has the solution to India’s ailing pace attack. “Some of the Indian pacers have served the country well. For a longer life span for pacers we need to have separate teams for Test and one-dayers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cricket Radio has got the rights to broadcast the game until 2015 and has linked up with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
“Gavaskar and Kapil Dev are ambassadors of the game and, along with [Wasim] Akram and [Rameez] Raja, we are happy to have their views being made available around the world. Pakistan and India should lay the foundation for people-to-people contact through cricket, as the fan following in both the countries is massive,” said Sethi.
