One of the finest cricketers to ever grace the sport, Kapil Dev, is a legend in Indian cricket. As the sport becomes more fast-paced, since the arrival of T20 cricket, the dynamics of the game have changed. It isn’t just the three formats in international cricket that the players have to deal with these days but also franchise cricket. Even T20 leagues like the Indian Premier League (IPL) demand a lot from players, sometimes leading to intense pressure situations as well. Kapil Dev, however, doesn’t feel cricketers should be playing the sport if they feel ‘pressured’.
As a guest on the ‘Champions of Aakash 2022’ program, organised by an educational institute, Aakash BYJU’s, Kapil Dev spoke about how the times have changed in modern as compared to the days when he used to play the sport.
“I had a passion to play. That was the difference. I would change the subject slightly. I hear a lot on TV these days. People say ‘there’s pressure, we play IPL, there’s a lot of pressure’. I only say one thing, ‘don’t play’. What is this pressure? If you are passionate, there shouldn’t be any pressure,” he said in the program.
“These ‘American words’ have come, be it pressure or depression. I don’t understand this. I am a farmer. That’s where I have come from. We played for enjoyment and where there’s enjoyment, there can’t be pressure,” he further said.
