Kapil Dev and his world cup winning team of 1983, are often credited with making Cricket popular with India's masses. The World Cup winning captain, however, credits Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni as the ones who changed the face of Indian cricket.
Accroding to Kapil Dev, Tendulkar, Sehwag and Dhoni played crucial roles in transforming the way the sport had been played. Speaking to International Business Times during a Golf Championship in Bengaluru, Dev said, “All three are different kinds of cricketers. They brought a new generation of people to the grounds. That was very important. Sachin was instrumental, playing for 24 years and inspiring so many people to take up the game. Virender Sehwag changed the style of modern-day cricket.”
Kapil Dev feels that Dhoni’s rise gave hope to youngsters from small cities and towns to dream of representing the country. “And Dhoni, coming from a small town, made it big. Every Indian now feels he can belong to a small town and still dream of becoming like Dhoni,” Dev, who himself came from a small town from Haryana, said.
He also praised the current Indian cricket team saying Virat Kohli has set a benchmark for players fitness.
