India's Kuldeep Yadav bowls
Kuldeep Yadav Image Credit: AFP

New Delhi: Former spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan spoke about his time with the Indian team and listed the the differences between legendary cricketers Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar as captains.

He stated that Kapil was a very instinctive captain while Gavaskar used to plan things beforehand.

"I always performed really well under Gavaskar and not so much under Kapil Dev. Kapil was a very instinctive captain while Gavaskar was a captain who would plan things...who would tell you what he expects from you," Sivaramakrishnan told WV Raman on the latter's YouTube show 'Inside Out'.

"Kapil Dev I think is the greatest sportsperson India has ever produced because he didn't only play cricket brilliantly as the greatest all-rounder but also other sport.

"But I think captaincy plays an important part in the development of a leg-spinner or any spinner for that matter," he added.

Sivaramakrishnan also had a word of advice for current spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who was going through a tough time before coronavirus pandemic put a halt on cricket across the world.

"He has to develop more variations. He has got a good deceptive googly, but he has to develop a top spinner," he said.

"When you bowl a top-spinner it's not only over spinning but also dips on the batsman and has an extra bit of bounce.

"The top spinner instead hits the top of the bat. Developing the top spinner is not difficult because the wrist position is between a googly and a leg break so much easier to demonstrate and it just needs a bit of patience and hard work to bowl the top spinner," Sivaramakrishnan added.