Kapil Dev says India still searching for Virat Kohli's successor as he backs Jasprit Bumrah, urges Hardik Pandya to 'play more cricket'

Kapil Dev turns mentor to Indian golf, but cricket still tugs at the legend

At the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort in Greater Noida, with shadows lengthening across the course on Wednesday, Kapil Dev — the 1983 World Cup-winning captain and one of Indian cricket's most enduring icons — sat on the clubhouse green watching the final groups putt out in a tournament now bearing his name.

As president of the Professional Golf Tour of India (DP World PGTI), a role he says he has “slipped into like the proverbial glove,” Kapil is channelling his brand — described as “a truly organic, everlasting phenomenon” — into adding value to Indian golf. But the conversation, as it always does with Kapil, kept drifting back to the game that made him.

“You're always looking for the next hero”

Asked which cricketers he enjoys watching, Kapil was clear about what he is hunting for: the man who can take over from Virat Kohli.

“Those type of cricketers. We have seen Rohit, Virat. We already saw Sachin. And they made us so proud. (But) you're always looking for the next hero. You always ask, 'Who is the next hero?' As a cricketer I like to see which is that young boy who has got that chance, who can replace Virat Kohli. And play for 15 years. That's what my mind looks for.”

On 16-year-old sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Kapil urged patience. “It's too early. Does he have the ability? Yes. But there have been so many in cricket who came with so much ability, then faded out. Look at Vinod Kambli. What will we say about that? Vaibhav is 16 years old. Give him another three years, then we will talk. When his lifestyle changes, his thinking too will change. Then we'll come to know how he will look after the next two years. That is more important than looking at his performance.”

Pandya, workload and the injury epidemic

Kapil, who remarkably was never injured in his playing career, was asked about the spread of injuries across Indian cricket in recent years and what Hardik Pandya needs to do to stay available.

“Play more cricket,” Kapil said bluntly. “I don't know [if he's not doing that]. You play more, your body gets tuned to that. But if you play less and suddenly you play more, chances of injury increase. If your muscles are fine, your injuries are less.”

He echoed former cricketer Sandeep Patil's view on volume: “In our time we used to play Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, club cricket, other cricket too. In 365 days, if you can play 250 days, you're in the game.”

Praise for Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar's fightback

On Jasprit Bumrah's unorthodox action, Kapil was full of admiration. “He's fabulous. Hats off to him. With that action, he's proved people like us wrong. We never thought he could survive with that action and bowl so well and become world leading bowler. Tremendous.”

He also singled out Bhuvneshwar Kumar's return to the national reckoning. “He's come back after four years because he played in the IPL, performed and bounced back. But here, more credit to Bhuvi than anybody else. Because in a cricketing sense, they really write you off very fast. But he kept on working with the opportunities that he got.”

Kambli and a friend in Imran Khan

On Vinod Kambli's current struggles, Kapil was unsentimental. “Everybody can help him, only if he helps himself. I don't believe in giving him money. I would rather pay his hospital expenses or rehab expenses. Why has he reached this situation? Kambli has himself to blame.”

And on his friend and former Pakistan captain Imran Khan, Kapil said: “As cricketers, we've done it twice already [written for his release]. That's their government, their policy. I'd like to see that they should look after him properly, on a humanitarian basis. He was a great cricketer... five, six years senior to me. We grew up watching him play. I admire him.”

Golf's unfinished business

Returning to golf, Kapil flagged a structural problem: India's top pros still cannot freely access courses to practise. “If you don't give the golfers infrastructure, how will they improve? All top golfers, they still can't walk in to play in any golf course... Today, if you tell a top golfer to go play, they have to pay wherever they have to play. As administrators, we feel very sorry for this limitation. The top 40 or 50 pros in this country should be able to walk in to play at any of the golf courses.”

On the tournament named in his honour, Kapil was characteristically self-deprecating: “They've done it without my knowing it... It should be a President Cup, not Kapil Dev Invitational. I am just a worker.”