Legendary former India captain Kapil Dev on Friday asked whether Hardik Pandya can be called an all-rounder given that he has not been bowling as much as the role demands.

A vital cog in India’s scheme of things in white-ball cricket, the flamboyant Pandya bowled in just two matches in the recent T20 World Cup where India went out in the group stage itself. 

He is also under fire for not revealing the extent of his several fitness issues and was dropped from the home T20 series against New Zealand, which India won 3-0.

“He has to do both the jobs to be considered an all-rounder. He is not bowling so can we call him all-rounder? Let him bowl, he has come out from the injury,” Kapil said at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course here. “He is an extremely important batter to the country, for bowling he has to play a lot more matches, perform and bowl and then we will say,” added India’s first World Cup-winning captain. Kapil also predicted that Rahul Dravid the coach will be a bigger success than the immensely accomplished Dravid the cricketer.

Dravid began his new innings as the Indian team’s head coach in the ongoing series against New Zealand, a post he has been given till the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.

“He’s a good man, a good cricketer. He will do a better job as a coach than as a cricketer because in cricket nobody has done better than him. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed,” Kapil said.  Dravid earlier served as the head of National Cricket Academy and was also the coach of India’s Under-19 and A teams, nurturing several young talents who went on to represent the country with distinction.