New Delhi: One of the finest Indian all-rounders of all time, Kapil Dev was a “disappointment” when it came to coaching, reveals Sachin Tendulkar in his autobiography Playing It My Way.
Tendulkar has claimed that he was left disappointed by Kapil during one of the Australia tours since the coach never involved himself in strategic discussions.
In the chapter – Tumultuous Times: India in Australia, November 1999–January 2000, Tendulkar has written that he had high expectations from Kapil.
“During my second stint as captain, we had Kapil Dev as our coach. He is one of the finest cricketers to have played for India and one of the best all-rounders of all time, and I had great expectations of him in Australia.
“However, his method of involvement and his thought process was limited to leaving the running of the team to the captain, and hence he did not involve himself in strategic discussions that would help us on the field,” Tendulkar writes.
The Indian batting great also shared his frustration on how some of his moves as captain did not pay off but the same strategy clicked when other captains employed it.
Tendulkar talked about the 1997 Sharjah series where he promoted Robin Singh to bat at No. 3 but the southpaw failed and he had to cop heavy criticism from the media.
“In the press I was criticised for sending in Robin ahead of me and the move was blamed for our defeat,” Tendulkar recalled.
“The same experiment was now hailed as a master stroke. Not without reason is it said that success has many fathers while defeat is an orphan,” he wrote. (PTI)