Kapil Dev 'amazed' at India bouncing back quickly after losing several legends

Having witnessed the rise and fall of numerous players in his stellar 16-year career, legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev has lavished praise on the current Indian team’s ability to regroup rapidly following the retirements of several stars.

During the sidelines of a promotional event for India’s upcoming home season organized by Star Sports, the ‘Haryana Hurricane’ also credited Test skipper Virat Kohli for his positive approach to captaincy.

Kapil claimed, “There is no team in the world after losing their legendary players bounced back quicker than this Indian team. Normally, once the great players go in a bunch, a team needs at least five to seven years to come back. But, this Indian team has come back so quickly, I have never seen something like this. I am amazed.”

Dev also picked out a number of stars that had retired from the team in recent years, “Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni – he has been the most important, all of them have retired one by one.”

Currently ranked number two in the ICC Test rankings, India have an opportunity to go on top if they clinch the forthcoming Test series against New Zealand by a margin of 2-0 or better.

Citing strong leadership for the team’s resurgence, Kapil gushed, “Virat Kohli has taken that responsibility of a super star, he is a role model we all watch growing up. He is different from Dhoni, he is very aggressive. The on-our-face expression is there, every captain comes out with his own thinking. He is one player who wants to win all the matches whose thinking is very positive and that's a great sign for Indian cricket.”

The 57-year old added, “We have seen in Australia when he was ready to chase over 400 runs in the last day (during the Adelaide Test) and that shows the mindset of a cricketer. He is ready to take the challenge head on.“

Ahead of a packed home season comprising of as many as 13 Tests, the former captain hailed Ravichandran Ashwin’s growing credentials as a versatile cricketer and singled him out as a game-changer for the hosts.

Kapil noted, “To me Ashwin is the team's all-rounder, a bowling allrounder. The team depends on him, he is the most important cricketer. He is the one who can change the game single-handedly. I think after a long time we are going to see a home series so big, as a player I always look upto Test cricket which is real cricket. It will be a test of nerves and all the planning and everything you will see in Tests. This reminds me of the 1980s.“