.Mumbai . Former veteran all-rounder Kapil Dev said that Virat Kohli does not need to prove anything and his contribution to Indian cricket is ‘unparalleled’. Kohli scored his 30th Test century in the second innings of the first Test against Australia in Perth on Sunday. India strengthened its grip in this match with the century innings of Kohli (100 not out) and young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (161). This is Kohli’s seventh century in Australia. With this, he became the Indian with the highest number of centuries in this country, surpassing the record of the great Sachin Tendulkar (six centuries).
“Those who want to criticize will criticize,” Kapil told PTI on the sidelines of the Vishwa Samudra Golden Eagle Golf Championship here. If a big player takes a lot of time to make a comeback, the media does such things. He said, “We should see his ability and talent. He is a very big player. They don’t need to prove anything to anyone. He doesn’t need to prove anything to me or the media.” The former India captain said, ”What he has done for cricket is amazing. We all should congratulate him. It’s okay if he doesn’t score a lot of runs. What he has given to cricket is unique.
Praising Jaiswal, he said that it would be meaningless to compare the batting of this young player with any other player. “I don’t like to compare,” he said. I just want to see our youth do better. New records will (always) be made. It is important for the youth to represent the country with responsibility.” He said, ”Do not compare any player with anyone else. It’s unfair, (they play in different conditions, different eras). Today’s youth are much more intelligent and confident. ,
He praised stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah for leading the Indian team brilliantly and said that the visiting team has performed better than expected so far. Bumrah gave the team a significant lead of 46 runs by taking five wickets for 30 runs in the first innings. The Australian team was out for just 104 runs. He has taken India towards a big victory by taking two important wickets in the second innings also. Bumrah took five wickets for the 11th time in Test cricket and achieved this feat for the seventh time in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries. He reached par with Kapil in terms of taking five wickets most number of times in these countries.
Kapil said, “Special congratulations should be given to Bumrah because it is very rare that bowlers are chosen as captain, it is very good to see him leading the way.” Kapil also revived fast bowling in the country. Praised Bumrah for bringing him into the limelight. “I don’t need to say anything – his records show (how good) he is. He is the top bowler in the world, what more do we need?” Kapil said. “I never thought before. That there would be so much discussion about a fast bowler in India but today it is happening and I am happy and proud of it. Kapil said that India’s performance is excellent because the team recently lost against New Zealand at home. “The team was really good,” he said of the 0-3 loss. Playing, they should win the first test, positive thinking should always be there.
