‘A little bit of injuries and you will play in IPL. A little bit of injuries, you won’t play for India’ – Kapil Dev reacts to Indian players getting injured

Kapil Dev in Indian Film Festival (Photo Source: Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2022)

Kapil Dev was one of the finest all-rounders the game has ever seen. He also led the Indian team from the front during the 1983 World Cup and helped them win the coveted title for the first time, after defeating the mighty West Indies team in the final at Lord’s.

Meanwhile, some top Indian players are currently injured or recovering from injuries and with the ODI World Cup less than three months away, fans are anxious about their chances of featuring in the showpiece event, which will be hosted exclusively in India for the first time. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant are all recovering from different injuries.

Kapil Dev has always been known for his straightforward assessments as he doesn’t hold back when he talks about cricket. He gave his take on the plethora of injuries that have surfaced in recent times in Indian cricket and spoke on the negative aspects of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 64-year-old mentioned how players tend to play with a minor injury during a crucial IPL game but skip playing for India with a similar injury.

“What happened to Bumrah? He started working with so much belief, but if he’s not there (in World Cup semi-final/final)… we wasted time on him. Rishabh Pant… such a great cricketer. Had he been there, our Test cricket would’ve been better,” Kapil said during an interview with The Week magazine.

“God is kind, it’s not as if I never got injured. But today, they are playing 10 months in a year. Give a benefit of doubt to that, but everybody has to look after themselves. IPL is a great thing but IPL can spoil you also. Because a little bit of injuries and you will play in IPL. A little bit of injuries, you won’t play for India. You would take a break. I’m being very open about it,” Dev further continued.

Kapil Dev wants BCCI to monitor amount of cricket played by its players

Kapil Dev feels that the cricket board will have to play a bigger role in assessing the amount of cricket being played by India‘s players and also insisted on having three or five-year calendars. Furthermore, he did not mince his words while saying that he has noticed some players are playing the IPL games even with a minor injury while they choose to bench themselves when it comes to national duty even with the same gravity of injury they are going through at that point.

“If you have a small injury, you would play in IPL if it’s an important game. At this stage, cricket board has to understand how much cricket they should play. That is the bottomline. If today, you have resources, money, but you don’t have three or five-year calendars. There’s something wrong with cricket board there,” the former world champion concluded.