Always Told Sachin Tendulkar 'You Must Be Like Virender Sehwag', Says Kapil Dev

1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev was perhaps one the greatest match winners in the history of Indian cricket. Dev also advised his successors including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag on how to improve their games. Tendulkar was a story of grit, passion, unbelievable skills.

Sachin Tendulkar was short but he would bully the ‘tallest’ bowlers of the era. It was the Sachin Tendulkar-era. He was a nightmare many bowlers would often refer as difficult to dislodge. He, however, struggled in the 90s and was dismissed for a number of times between the 90 and 100 run marks due to his nervousness.

Kapil Dev was of the opinion that Tendulkar knew how to score century but did not know how to convert them into double and triple centuries. In his opinion, Tendulkar adapted the Mumbaikar mindset when you score a century and start from zero all over again. It is thus that Kapil Dev suggested him to be like Virender Sehwag, who had a ruthless approach in the game.

“Sachin had so much talent, we hadn’t seen it in anyone. He was born in an era where he knew how to score hundreds but he never became a ruthless batsman. Sachin had everything in cricket. He knew how to score hundreds but didn’t know how to convert those hundreds into double-hundreds and triple-hundreds,” Kapil Dev was quoted as saying by espncricinfo.

“Sachin had the talent to make at least five triple-centuries and another 10 double-hundreds because he could hit fast bowlers and spinners for a six or a four every over. However, he got caught up in the Mumbai cricket [mindset]: when you score a hundred, make a line and start from zero again. And that’s where I said no, you are such a ruthless cricketer, be like Virender Sehwag,” he added.

Tendulkar continues to be the leading run-scorer in in international cricket with 34, 357 runs — 15,921 in Tests, 18426 in ODIs and 10 from a solitary T20I.

In 2010, against South Africa he came first international cricketer to smash a double hundred. Only if  the century of centuries in international cricket was not enough – it was in March, 2012 that he achieved his feat, a record that will need to some taking to be surpassed.