Strange That Today's Bowlers Feel Tired After Bowling Only Four Overs: Kapil Dev

Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev was amongst the best all-rounders of his era and played when there was fierce competition between him, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, and Richard Hadlee. As an all-rounder, Kapil Dev consistently delivered impactful performances with both bat and ball, performing tirelessly to make his team win. Hence, the Haryana Hurricane expressed his surprise at players feeling tired after bowling only four overs.

Kapil Dev’s statement came in the wake of Indian captain Virat Kohli’s recent comments on the team’s balance affecting due to the absence of a seam-bowling all-rounder. India went in the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand with three frontline pacers and two specialist spinners on a seaming track. Hence, their bowling unit seemed to struggle without a fast-bowling all-rounder.

On the other hand, New Zealand had the upper hand in this regard as the depth of their pace attack came to the fore in Southampton. Aside from Neil Wagner, Kyle Jamieson, Trent Boult, and Tim Southee, the Kiwis also had Colin de Grandhomme. De Grandhomme’s availability of medium pace bowling meant that they did not pick a frontline spinner and thrived in the conditions.

In our time, we had to do everything: Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev understands that players become injury-prone after playing for ten months a year and recalled they had to do everything in his time, contrary to the current era. The World Cup-winning captain underlined that where today’s cricketers feel tired after bowling three or four overs, they used to bowl plenty even to the last few batsmen. Kapil believes that players need to have the mindset of bowling more, causing them to develop their muscles and as a cricketer of ancient times, he feels strange by today’s generation’s capabilities.

“The number of injuries increases when you play cricket for ten months a year. And today’s cricket is very basic – you either bat or bowl. In our time, we had to do everything. Today’s cricket has changed a bit. Sometimes it hurts as well that a player gets tired after bowling four overs. And some say that they are not allowed to bowl 3-4 overs in the nets. I remember, in my time, I wouldn’t say it was wrong or right, we used to bowl ten overs even to the last few batsmen. One should have that mindset, and it develops the muscles (in that way as well). Today, perhaps four overs is enough for them, which feels a bit strange to the players of my generation,” Dev told in the Sports Yaari Youtube channel.

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