Legendary Indian skipper Kapil Dev heaped praise on England’s aggressive brand of cricket in the longer format of the game and wants the Indian captain Rohit Sharma to be more aggressive in his approach going forward taking inspiration from the English side.
The appointment of Brendon McCullum as England’s Test coach has completely transformed their fortunes. England’s team is playing an aggressive brand of cricket which is termed “Bazball” going for the win in every match they play in test cricket under their new skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.
Speaking in an Interview with the Times of India, Kapil Dev said that the recently concluded Ashes series between England and Australia is one of the best series in recent times and wants the game to be played in that style and urged the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to be aggressive in the team’s plan going forward in all three formats of the game.
“Bazball is wonderful. The series between England and Australia was one of the finest series I have seen in recent times. I think cricket should be played like that. Rohit is good. But he must be more aggressive.
“You have to think about how teams like England play now. And it’s not just us. All cricket-playing countries have to think along those lines. Winning the game should be the highest priority (not play for draws) for all teams,” Kapil Dev said.
The England team has been redefining the brand of test cricket with their aggressive approach over the last two years or so and they made a dramatic comeback into the Ashes series 2023 after being 2-0 in the high-octane to draw the series 2-2 in the home soil.
I Think The Top Players Must Play A Decent Amount Of Domestic Matches – Kapil Dev
1983-World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev urged the Indian stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to play domestic cricket and questioned their role in the Indian domestic circuit and feels that their playing the domestic matches would help the next-gen players in the country.
“Domestic cricket is most important. How many domestic matches has Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma or any of the other top players played in recent times? I think the top players must play a decent amount of domestic matches so that it helps the next generation of players,” Kapil Dev added.
Apart from the IPL, star Indian players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya have rarely represented their stateside in domestic tournaments like Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy, as they are usually busy with the International Calendar with the Indian team.