Former India cricketer VVS Laxman feels that too much workload on players is not allowing the country to witness another Kapil Dev. Unlike the World-Cup winning skipper, most of the other all-rounders in the recent past have not managed their workload properly which has resulted in either injury or concentrating on either batting or bowling. Constant comparisons between Kapil Dev and Hardik Pandya became a regular feature in any discussion but Laxman feels that the amount of workload doesn’t allow the players of the modern generation to follow the footsteps of Kapil Dev.
Speaking at a Youtube book-launch session at the “Tata Literature Live Sports Yatras”, Laxman said, "It's a very difficult role being an all-rounder. Kapil paaji was someone who could take wickets and score runs. He was the ultimate match-winner for India. But with the amount of workload nowadays, it's very, very difficult."
Laxman didn’t take anyone’s name but he might have indirectly indicated Hardik Pandya when he said that there are glimpses of Kapil Dev in certain players. "There were some glimpses from some players, because they were focusing a lot on both the skills, ultimately with the amount of workload and matches the Indian team plays in three formats, it's very difficult to manage,” Laxman said.
"That player who has the ability to become a genuine all-rounder, unfortunately, gets injured and he has to compromise or he has to take a decision on either batting or bowling," added the stylish batsman from Hyderabad.
Hardik Pandya is coming off a big break following a back surgery. He didn’t bowl for the Mumbai Indians for the whole of the IPL last season but was given five overs in total during the ODI series in Australia. He got enough time to rest during the Test series Down Under and the one against England at home. He bowled in all matches of the T20I series against England but didn’t bowl in the first two matches of the ODI series. So far, Hardik hasn’t bowled for the Mumbai Indians in this edition and it will be interesting to see whether he gets the ball in some part of the tournament or not. Meanwhile, Laxman said that it was “not right to compare any sort of all-rounder with the legendary Kapil”.
"I just feel that there can be only one Kapil. It (comparison) will put undue pressure on the player. There can be only one MS Dhoni, or one Sunil Gavaskar," he added.
Meanwhile, he also backed Rishabh Pant to be India’s first-choice wicket-keeper batsman for the T20 World Cup slated to be held in October-November. "India is spoilt for choices. The way Sanju Samson has batted, kept and led Rajasthan Royals (in ongoing IPL), even though he did not have too much of experience (in captaining) a side," he said.
"Then there's Ishan Kishan. KL Rahul has done well whenever he got the gloves, and batted either top of the order or in the middle. But somehow I just feel Rishabh Pant is the player whom you should pick for the wicketkeeper-batsman slot. I will definitely go for Pant," Laxman added.
"Not only that he's really improved and impressed everyone with his keeping abilities, but as a left-handed batsman, he's someone who can take away the game from any opposition in any situation in the middle overs," Laxman signed off.