GREATER NOIDA, NOV 19,
Kapil Dev is legendary for many reasons, one of them being his amazing fitness levels throughout his playing career. So when he insists that fitness standards need to be looked at in their entirety, you have to take note.
The World Cup-winning captain insists that while Yo-Yo tests can be a good parameter for setting a basic benchmark, they cannot be the only criterion for selection to the national team.
“I think it’s important to keep a level of fitness but in my mind, cricketing fitness is more important than anything else and it is different from Yo-Yo tests,” Kapil told The Hindu on the sidelines of his Tedx Talk here on Sunday.
“If you are not a good athlete but if you have good cricketing sense and use yourself best for the benefit of the team, that’s more important.
“ If I say (Ravichandran) Ashwin is not a 100 % athlete but a 100 % performer of the game, can you really say he is not good enough if he doesn’t pass the Test? Same with (Saurav) Ganguly.
He wasn’t one of the best athletes but he was one of the best captains we have had,” Kapil said.He, however, refused to predict the outcome of the tour down under despite all talk of this being the weakest Australian team.
