Follow UsJasprit Bumrah’s monstrous series against Australia (32 wickets @13.06) immediately got the Indian fans to compare him with the yesteryear superstar Kapil Dev. Bumrah’s 32 wickets, incidentally, also took him past Dev’s tally to become the highest wicket-taker in Tests Down Under.
Everyone started comparing Bumrah with the 1983 World Cup winner, but Dev wanted none of that. The 66-year-old warned people against comparison, stating that you can’t ‘compare one generation with another’.
"Please do not compare [me with Bumrah]; you cannot compare one generation with another. The boys of today score 300 runs in a single day, which didn't happen in our time. So, don't compare," Kapil said while speaking to the media at an event.
Another bone of contention in India is whether Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli would return to domestic cricket to reinvigorate their Test careers or pull the plug on a glorious career. However, Dev failed to give his two cents, stating that it is now up to the two players to make a decision of their own.
Kohli scored 190 runs in the five-match series Down Under, averaging 23.75, which comes down to just 90 runs if you remove his second-innings century in Perth. Rohit, though, failed miserably in the series, with just 31 runs across three Tests, averaging 6.20, which was lower than Bumrah, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin.
"How can I comment on the judgement of others? I think the selectors would have thought about it. So, if I say something it would be criticising them. I don't want to criticise them. They ([electors] are a group of people who must have planned and thought about that."
"They are very big players. Let's hope when they think it's the right time to play, when they think it's not, they will call it off," said Kapil on whether they would be there for the England tour.