“These cricketers think they know everything” - Kapil Dev agrees with Sunil Gavaskar’s remark about players not approaching him for advice

Former India captain Kapil Dev has taken a dig at current Indian players by agreeing with Sunil Gavaskar’s remark that no one approaches him for advice. The 1983 World Cup-winning captain hinted that the current crop of cricketers seem to have become arrogant as they are earning a lot of money, and added that they seem to think they know everything.

Following India’s loss in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia at The Oval, Gavaskar hit out at the Indian team and questioned their reluctance to seek advice from former cricketers. In a recent interview with The Week magazine, Kapil was asked for his reaction on Gavaskar’s comment.

Like his former teammate, the 64-year-old was also critical of the current players.

"Differences come out, the good (thing) about these players...is that they are very confident. Negative point is they think they know everything. I don't know how to put it better than that. But they are confident, but they think 'you don't have to ask anybody'. What we believe is an experienced person can help you," he said.

"Sometimes when there is too much money, arrogance comes. These cricketers think they know everything. That's the difference. I would say there are so many cricketers who need help. When Sunil Gavaskar is there, why can't you talk? Where is the ego? There is no ego as such. They feel 'we are good enough'. Maybe they are good enough, but extra help from somebody who has seen 50 seasons of cricket, he knows things. Listening sometimes can change your thought," Kapil added.

In the same interview, the former India captain also rejected Ravi Shastri’s suggestion that all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s body cannot cope with the rigors of Test cricket.

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What Gavaskar said about Team India after WTC final loss

Following India’s loss to Australia in the WTC 2023 final, Gavaskar recalled former cricketers like Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar approaching him for advice. He then added that none of the current players do the same.

Gavaskar told The Indian Express:

"No, no one has come. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman regularly came to me. And they would approach me with a specific problem and you could tell them something which you had observed. I don't have an ego about this, I could go and talk to them but since there are two coaches - Rahul Dravid and Vikram Rathore - so sometimes you hold back since you don’t want to confuse them with too much information.”

Meanwhile, India went down to West Indies by six wickets in the second ODI in Barbados on Saturday.