Calcutta: Kapil Dev, India’s first captain to win the cricket World Cup, has talked about Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who followed in his footsteps 28 years later (in 2011), most glowingly.
“Dhoni is an asset, quite like Sunil Gavaskar was when I was the captain. It helps to have mature players in the team,” the charismatic Kapil told The Telegraph on Friday.
There was a time when many believed that there would almost always only be major differences between Gavaskar and Kapil, India’s tallest cricketers till the emergence of Sachin Tendulkar, but Kapil’s comments have shown that both had — and still have — plenty of respect for one another.
For much of Thursday, of course, Kapil had been busy shooting a commercial jointly with Dhoni for SRMB, a leading manufacturer of TMT bars.
While Kapil has been the company’s brand ambassador for years, Dhoni has just come on board.
“They (SRMB) thought this was the right time to get India’s World Cup-winning captains together. I hadn’t done any shoot with Dhoni before and I quite liked this first with him,” Kapil pointed out.
Dhoni, incidentally, has also won the inaugural World T20 — in 2007.
“I don’t go near the dressing room, so my opinion about Dhoni had been based on what I could make out from a distance...
“It’s one thing to form an impression from afar and quite another to converse with the person in flesh and blood...
“The shoot in Calcutta gave me an opportunity to know Dhoni from close. He’s very humble and, yes, has a good cricket brain...
“Dhoni came across as somebody who is fully aware of whatever he’s doing...
“I was curious about how Dhoni would use his bowlers. He explained he’d largely only think about who’d bowl the last over in ODIs and in the T20Is...
“As captain, Dhoni didn’t have a set pattern...
“The idea behind interacting with Dhoni was to know his mindset. I came away impressed...
“Today’s players engage in ruthless cricket, with the game very much result-oriented. So, was keen to know the thinking of a current player. Dhoni gave me an insight,” Kapil observed.
Dhoni retired from Test cricket in December 2014 and stepped down from the ODI and T20I captaincy this January. He’d been the full-time captain across the three formats from November 2008 till he quit the oldest format.
Asked if he’d specifically spoken to Dhoni about his plans for the 2019 World Cup, Kapil replied: “No, I didn’t dwell on anything in particular. Neither did Dhoni for that matter...
“My personal view is that Dhoni should play till there’s somebody better than him in ODIs and in T20Is...
“It’s not just that there’s nobody even close to Dhoni and that it’s good to have an experienced head around, but he’s supremely fit...
“The level of Dhoni’s fitness fits into captain (Virat) Kohli’s scheme of things...
“Kohli is a huge one for fitness and leads by example. Dhoni maybe over 36, but he scores on that count. In any case, as I’ve said, he's an asset.”
Reacting to those who have made it a habit of gunning for Dhoni after one or two small scores, Kapil stated in a tone of annoyance: “When there’s no replacement, what’s the use of trying to question the utility of an asset like Dhoni? It’s a waste of time.”
Trust Kapil, who talks from his heart, to make a point with such telling effect.
