Mumbai, Sept 29: Cricket legend Kapil Dev took a dig at the Cricket Board today for not giving the triumphant Indian squad more time to unwind after their fabulous World Cup triumph on April 2 and for paying much more money to represent their IPL franchises than the country.
“The players did not get time to unwind and enjoy their World Cup victory. They had worked three years for it. They just got four days (before IPL began). They should have got more time to enjoy the (triumphant) moment,” the former India skipper said here.
“If you don't give time to unwind, you lose the passion to play. That's what happened in England (Team lost Test series 4-0 to the hosts). They went through the motion and there was no passion which is very important when you play sports,” said Kapil, who delivered the Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture at the Cricket Club of India.
“What I saw at Lord's was the worst I have seen. On the second day of a Test series the captain (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) removed his wicket keeping gloves and bowled. He was asking Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar whether they were tired. I would never have let him do that and would have bowled 25 overs on that day. You need to have attitude,” he said.
“No cricket should be played for at least a month anywhere in the world after a World Cup,” he added.
Taking up the debate over club versus country, Kapil said he can never comprehend how players can get more money while representing their clubs (franchises in IPL) than their country.
“I got confused here every time. They are run by the same organisation. How can the same organisation (BCCI) give more money to play for club and not for playing for the country? I do not agree with that,” he said. PTI
