Yuvraj should've been in the Test team: Kapil Dev

JAIPUR: Surprised by the selectors' decision to leave Yuvraj Singh out of the team for the first two Tests against Pakistan, former India captain Kapil Dev on Wednesday said it was unfair to omit the 'world's best' left-hander from the side.

"It is surprising to see Yuvraj is not there for the first Test match. The way he is playing his cricket presently makes one thing clear in everyone's mind that he is the best left-handed batsman in the world presently," Kapil said.

"In his absence, others who have been given a chance will have to play with extra responsibility as his absence means all who are present in the squad are better than him," he added.

India take on the arch-rivals in a three-Test series starting in Delhi from on Thursday.

On being asked about the need of a new coach for the team, Kapil said, "What is wrong in Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh? They are doing their job well according to me."

"The 11 players who are playing international cricket for India are already trained. But, you do need a manager. sometimes a even player like Sachin (Tendulkar) may feel low and in such circumstances you need to have managers who are known as coaches in cricket these days," Kapil said.

On Indian cricket team's chances after the 3-2 ODI series win, Kapil said, "I think the Indian team could have stopped Pakistan at 4-1 by winning the final match in Jaipur. But when the result is 3-2 with Pakistan winning the final one-dayer, naturally the morale of the Pakistani team is high."

"As far as our team is concerned presently it is looking good on paper. But it all depends on how well they execute their plans on the ground. The better team would win," he said.

Kapil, who is the chairman of the Indian Cricket League's Executive Board, rubbished reports that Brian Lara was planning to sign up with the Indian Premier League.

"I think any player who has given us a commitment through contract will come and join. If he does anything wrong he would be his personal loss than loss of ICL. As far as I am concerned he is coming."

On the board's diktat of not allowing chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar to write columns, Kapil said, "I think as a player any cricketer can write a column if he wishes to. But I don't know what the norms in BCCI are. If there are certain norms related to this matter, Vengsarkar should decide for himself to follow them or not.