Kapil Dev Declares Ravindra Jadeja A Better All-Rounder Than Ben Stokes: 'He Is Performing...'
Kapil Dev believes Ravindra Jadeja is a better all-rounder than Ben Stokes, citing Jadeja's 'far better' performances.
India's World Cup-winning all-rounder Kapil Dev believes Ravindra Jadeja is a superior all-rounder to Ben Stokes, saying his current performances are 'far better' than the Englishman.
Dev's comments came on the sidelines of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, currently ongoing in England. Jadeja has scored 347 runs so far at an average of 86.75 plus five wickets. Whereas Stokes is the highest wicket-taker of the series with 16 scalps, while boasting around 300 runs too.
Overall, Jadeja has 328 wickets (at 25.09) and 3717 runs (at 36.80) in 84 Tests, while Stokes has 229 wickets (at 31.64) and over 7,000 runs in 115 Tests.
'I don't want to compare. Stokes is a good all-rounder, but I still feel Jadeja is ahead. He is performing far better," Kapil, who is the president of PGTI, was as quoted by PTI on the sidelines of the PGTI Schedule announcement for the second half of 2025.
Jadeja has been ranked at the top of the ICC all-rounder rankings for a few years now. Stokes is not too far behind at number six.
Kapil Dev offers support to Shubman Gill, Anshul Kamboj
Dev also offered words of encouragement and support for under-pressure captain Shubman Gill.
'Give him time. This is his first series, he will commit mistakes and there will be many positives over the period of time, he will learn. There is no problem if he is learning. There will be mistakes, but he is learning from his mistakes that is very important," Dev said.
'This is a young team, they are getting the opportunity to play and in the coming days these players will win. It is just a new team. Any new team in the world takes time to adjust. Gill is a new captain, and he will learn a lot and I think this series will be a learning step."
He also staunchly defended his state-mate Anshul Kamboj, who couldn't pick more than one wicket in his first innings on debut.
'What do you expect from a debutant, that he should take 10 wickets? You have to assess his potential. If he's good enough, he will bounce back. Everyone is nervous when playing their first game. The result may not be ideal, but I believe the ability is there, and that's more important," he added.
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First Published:
July 26, 2025, 22:29 IST
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