Kapil Dev wants to ‘slap’ Rishabh Pant once he recovers

The entire cricket fraternity is wishing for his speedy recovery but the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev wants to give the youngster a piece of his mind to make him more responsible.


Kapil Dev wants to ‘slap’ Rishabh Pant once he recovers

Rishabh Pant; Kapil Dev

India’s legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev recently spoke about the importance of Rishabh Pant in the team for the all-important Border-Gavaskar series, starting tomorrow in Nagpur. Pant won’t be a part of the team as he is recovering from the injuries he sustained from the life-threatening car crash on December 30 last year.

ADVERTISEMENT

He tore two three knee ligaments; the surgery for two has been successful and he is likely to undergo another surgery for the third tear. In all possibilities, he going to be out of the cricketing scene this year.

The entire cricket fraternity is wishing for his speedy recovery but the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev wants to give the youngster a piece of his mind to make him more responsible and not repeat the same mistake in the future. Dev also feels that Pant’s absence has spoiled the combination of the whole team.

I have a lot of love for him. I want him to recover so that I can go and slap him hard and tell him to look after himself. Because of your accident, the entire team is in tatters. I love him, but I am also angry at him. Why do such youngsters of today’s times make such mistakes?” Kapil Dev said on Uncut.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related: Shikhar Dhawan’s estranged wife threatens to defame him, Delhi Court restrains her from doing that

Who will replace Rishabh Pant in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series?

Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant

Pant was the hero of the previous series in Australia. In the historic Gabba Test, the counter-attacking batsmen played a blazing knock of 89 runs from 138 deliveries to help India clinch a 2-1 victory.

There should be a slap for it. First blessings, that he gets all the love in the world, may the almighty give him good health. First that, but after that, like parents have this responsibility to slap the children if they make mistakes,” Dev added.

Dev thinks Suryakumar Yadav is the most viable replacement for Pant. The No.1 T20I batter has earned his maiden call for the Australia series.

ADVERTISEMENT

Suryakumar and Shubman Gill may come to bat at No. 5 as Shreyas Iyer’s replacement, who was ruled out of the first Test. But it will be interesting to see who comes to bat at No.6, where Pant used to dominate. Although Team India will miss this chatty youngster behind the stumps, KS Bharat is likely to do the wicketkeeping job.

In case you missed:

TESTING times for Rohit Sharma in BGT series

‘Sir’ Ravindra Jadeja excited to wear India jersey again, that’s what motivated him during rehab

ADVERTISEMENT