Former India captain Kapil Dev has said that India player Hardik Pandya needs to start bowling in white-ball cricket to be referred to as an all-rounder. Pandya only started bowling in the recent T20 World Cup after having a long gap in between as he is not yet fully recovered from his back injury for which he had undergone surgery.
Considered as one of the vital cogs in India’s middle-order in white-ball cricket, Hardik Pandya bowled in just two matches in the recent T20 World Cup. Moreover, he couldn’t do well with the bat too. While India had a poor campaign in the T20 World Cup, they won against New Zealand by 3-0.
“He has to do both the jobs to be considered an all-rounder. He is not bowling so can we call him an all-rounder? Let him bowl, he has come out from the injury,” Kapil said at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course in Kolkata.
“He is an extremely important batter to the country, for bowling he has to play a lot more matches, perform and bowl and then we will say,” further added India’s first World Cup-winning captain.
“He will do a better job as a coach” – Kapil Dev on Rahul Dravid
However, Kapil Dev also predicted that the newly appointed head coach Rahul Dravid will be a bigger success than Dravid the cricketer. Dravid started his new innings as the Indian team’s head coach in the ongoing series against New Zealand, a post he will be there till the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, replacing Ravi Shastri.
“He’s a good man, a good cricketer. He will do a better job as a coach than as a cricketer because in cricket nobody has done better than him. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed,” Kapil said.
Talking about Dravid as the head coach, Kapil Dev further said: “You can’t just judge one after his debut, you don’t go by one performance. Over a period of time, what Rahul will do, we will come to know. You only think positive.”
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