'When there is too much money, arrogance comes' - Kapil Dev makes a colossal statement to echo Sunil Gavaskar's 'ego' dig at Indian batters

The changing paradigms of cricket have involved a couple of things of late, the arrival of fast-paced cricket in the form of the T20I format, and the inception of lavishing and cash-rich T20 leagues. But somewhere in all this, these paced evolutions have impacted the form of players in international cricket. Although it’s a part and parcel of sports one can not enjoy the peak always in his career.

But it seems like things have changed too much in Indian cricket; it was recently reflected in a statement of former legendary skipper Sunil Gavaskar when said players of this generation keep their ‘ego’ above everything. Now, his former teammate and former Indian skipper Kapil Dev has echoed the same notion and gave a nod to Gavaskar’s statement.

"No, no one has come. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and 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," said Gavaskar to the Indian Express last month in the aftermath of India’s embarrassing loss against Australia in the World Test Championship 2023 final.

They think, 'You don't have to ask anybody' - Kapil Dev on current Indian batters

In response to Gavaskar's viewpoint, the ex-captain who won the World Cup clarified it further. He said that this particular attitude is a kind of confidence, but the darker side of this is that the current generation of batters in the Indian team think or feel that they don’t need to consult any veteran, they are well-learned and know everything.

"Differences come out, the good (thing) about these players...is that they are very confident. The 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," said Kapil Dev to The Week.

“Sometimes when there is too much money, arrogance comes. These cricketers think they know everything. That's the difference. I would say so many cricketers 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 with extra help from somebody who has seen 50 seasons of cricket, he knows things. Listening sometimes can change your thought,” he added.