Virat’s captaincy cannot be judged in one series: Kapil Dev

Noida, Aug 2 (IANS) Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev on Tuesday said current Indian test skipper Virat Kohli and young batsman Lokesh Rahul must be allowed more time before their performance can be judged.

The 57-year-old former all-rounder believes that both Kohli and Rahul are young talents and maturity will come with time.

"Virat Kohli has to be given more chances to captain the team then only we will know about his capabilities. We can't judge his capabilities in just one series," Kapil told reporters here.

"We can never judge a player by just one Indian Premier League (IPL) or just one Test series... let them play 5-10 series, then only we can judge a player and think about it," he added.

Kohli currently captains the Indian team in Test cricket and is its vice-captain in limited-overs formats. The 27-year-old Delhi batsman holds the record for the fastest batsman to score 5,000 ODI runs and the fastest to 10 ODI centuries. He also scored a double ton against the West Indies in the first test played at Antigua.

Kapil also believes that the young generation has effectively filled the gap after the retirement of the stalwarts of the previous generation like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, among others.

"The youngsters have bridged the gap with the previous generation. Players like Kohli and Ashwin have taken the extra responsibilities on their shoulders," the legendary cricketer said.