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1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev recently has been under the limelight for his remarks on the Indian cricketers and their recent stance. The former India skipper recently during his interaction with The Week also offered a piece of advice for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) while pointing out the much talked about altercation between former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli.
While addressing he urged the Indian cricket board to develop players to be decent citizens. While citing the heated exchange between Kohli and Gambhir during the Indian Premier League 2023, the 64-year-old added that whatever happened on the field was “painful” for him.
“They (BCCI) have to groom players to be good citizens also. What happened between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli in the IPL, it was painful for me,” Kapil Dev said. Although he cited that he was astonished to see the on-field behaviour of the two Indian cricketers, he also put down examples of Pele and Sir Don Bradman.
“My two most important people - Virat Kohli, one of the top batters in the world; Gambhir is now member of Parliament - how can they behave in such a manner? But sportsmen do lose their mind, from Pele to Don Bradman to all people,” the World Cup winning captain further added during his interview with The Week.
The incident took place during a match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. While it all started with Kohli getting into a verbal exchange with Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq, things escalated during the customary handshake post-match. However, things thereafter seemed to take a wrong turn with LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir also engaging in the spat.