Indian Cricket Team’s former World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev is known for his straightforward and simple talk. He talks openly on any issue. Recently during a program when he was asked about the pressure on the players, he simply said “then don’t play.”
Actually, there is a lot of talk of pressure in modern day cricket with various T20 leagues being introduced and number of competitions have increased. Apart from this, there is a lot of discussion about players’ mental health.
Although Kapil Dev does not agree with all these things. According to him, the pressure cannot come on the game if you enjoy playing the game. When one player plays but doesn’t enjoy playing, then obviously player will feel pressure.
Kapil Dev said during a program, “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.”
“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,” said the former India all-rounder.
Let us tell you that Kapil Dev retired from cricket in 1994. Under his captaincy, India won the 1983 World Cup for the first time. After this, he played for the next 11 years and then retired from the game. His innings of 175 against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup is counted among the greatest innings of ODI cricket of all time.