One of the finest all-rounders of his generation, Kapil Dev, came down hard at Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul ahead of India's upcoming five-T20I series against South Africa, starting from June 9 in Delhi.
Rahul will be leading the Indian team without their regular skipper Rohit, who had been rested following a two-month-long 2022 season of Indian Premier League (IPL).
Both India captain Rohit and Virat struggled for runs in the recently concluded season of IPL. While Rohit failed to score even one half-century in the tournament, finishing the season with just 268 runs in 14 games at an average of 19.14, Kohli, too, endured a disappointing season as he could manage only 341 runs in 16 matches at an average of 22.73.
KL Rahul, on the other hand, was terrific with the bat for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), having amassed 616 runs with two centuries from 15 matches. However, his strike rate in some games, including the eliminator against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), drew a lot of criticism from the cricket fraternity.
The 1983 World Cup-winning captain reckoned that the trio of Rohit, Virat and Rahul shouldn't feel the pressure and play fearlessly as all of them can strike 150-160 regularly.
"They have a big reputation and there's huge pressure on them, which shouldn't be the case. You have to play fearless cricket. All of these are players who can hit at a strike rate of 150-160. When you need them to score runs, they all get out. When it is time to take off (in the innings), they are out. And that adds to pressure. Either you play an anchor or you play striker," Kapil Dev said on YouTube channel ‘Uncut’.
Further speaking on the T20 approach of Rahul, the former India captain said that there needs to be a role clarification, adding that a big reputation of a player is of no use if he fails to deliver good performance for the team.
"When you talk about KL Rahul, if the team tells him to play the entire 20 overs and you come back with a score of, say 60 not out, you're not doing justice to your team," Kapil added.
"I think the approach needs to change. And if it doesn't, you have to change the players. A big player is expected to make a big impact. Having a big reputation is not enough, you also have to deliver great performances," he concluded.