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Kapil Dev is one of the finest names to have donned the Indian cricket jersey. The former Indian player led his side to become world champions in 1983 by winning India’s first ever ODI World Cup. The India legend isn’t known for shying away from sharing his opinions when it comes to cricket and has time and again expressed his views on various subjects. The ex-India captain isn’t pleased with how players are constantly getting injured and criticised India’s handling of injuries especially when the ODI World Cup 2023 is around the corner.
In an interview with The Week, Dev said, “What happened to Bumrah? He started working with so much belief, but if he's not there (for the World Cup semi-final/final)... we wasted so much time on him. Rishabh Pant... such a great cricketer. Had he been there, our Test cricket would've been better.”
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The 64-year-old also said that players tend to play in the IPL with a minor injury but skip India games in the same case. He said, "God is kind, it's not as if I never got injured. But today, they are playing 10 months in a year. Give a benefit of doubt to that, but everybody has to look after themselves. IPL is a great thing but IPL can spoil you also. Because a little bit of injuries and you will play in IPL. A little bit of injuries, you won't play for India. You would take a break. I'm being very open about it.”
Not only this, but the Haryana Hurricane also said that the BCCI would have to play a bigger role in assessing the amount of cricket that the team played. He continued to say that the board should have a three or five-year calendar for the team. Dev continued, "If you have a small injury, you would play in IPL if it's an important game. At this stage, cricket board has to understand how much cricket they should play. That is the bottomline. If today, you have resources, money, but you don't have three or five-year calendars. There's something wrong with cricket board there.”
