SACHIN DIDN’T DO JUSTICE TO HIS TALENT... HE COULD’VE DONE MUCH MORE: KAPIL
DUBAI: Kapil Dev says Sachin Tendulkar “did not know how to make double hundreds, triple hundreds and 400 though he had the ability” and that he was “stuck in the Mumbai school of cricket”.
“Don’t get me wrong, but I think Sachin didn’t do justice to his talent. I always thought he could have done much more than what he did,” Dev was quoted as saying by ‘Khaleej Times’.
“He (Sachin) got stuck with Bombay cricket. He didn’t apply himself to the ruthless international cricket. I think he should have spent more time with Viv Richards than some of the Bombay guys who played just neat and straight cricket.
“Sachin was a much better cricketer but somewhere along the line he just knew how to score hundreds. He didn’t know how to make it a double hundred, or a triple or even 400s,” the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper added. TECHNICAL ABILITY Tendulkar, who still holds the records for most runs and centuries in Tests and ODIs, and Kapil were part of the India set-up as captain and coach.
The all-rounder added: “He (Sachin) had the ability. He was technically sound but I felt he was there to get his hundred and that’s it. Unlike Richards, Sachin wasn’t ruthless, he was more of a perfect, or rather correct, cricketer. Had I spent more time with him I would have told › him ‘go enjoy yourself, play like Virender Sehwag’. You will be a much better cricketer.”
Kapil was speaking before a select crowd in Dubai with Shane Warne, Wasim Akram and Ian Botham also present.
Warne though was effusive in his praise of his great rival.
“He is a wonderful player and in my 20-odd years of playing, he is the best batsman I played against. The expectations he was under and the skill he had against fast (bowling) and spin, the way he judged the ball. He was great for the game and he was a fantastic player. He dominated bowlers in the mid-90s and he was just outstanding against any bowler. He also played exceptionally well against Australia.”
Akram regretted that he had his great pace partner Waqar Younis played very few Tests against Tendulkar.
“We played against Sachin when he made his debut in 1989 when he was 16, and then we played Tests against Sachin in 1999 in India. He was the best in the game and 100 international hundreds speak volumes of his talent.”