Adani Group Event Ahmedabad: Kapil Dev Praises Gautam Adani, ‘We Should Be Proud Of Our Business leaders’

Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev shared his views on cricket, the legacy of Indian business leaders, and his admiration for Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, at a private event organized by the Adani Group in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

On the Next Generation in Cricket

Kapil Dev highlighted the significance of cricket advancement across generations. He said, “The next generation has to be better than us—that’s how the world progresses. We never imagined anyone could come close to Sachin Tendulkar or Sunil Gavaskar, but then we got Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma. The next generation comes with their own unique way of playing, and we should appreciate that.”

On Ashwin Retirement

On Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement, he said, “As Ashwin has gone, I wish I had been there. I wouldn’t have let him go like that. I would have sent him off with much respect and happiness. When you leave something you love, it’s very tough, and we have to respect such people.”

On Recent Test Match Performance

Kapil Dev on India’s performance said, “They played very well in the first test, but poorly in the second test. In the third test, they had hiccups but survived. That’s okay—there are two more test matches to go. We need to think positively about what we can take from this test match and move forward. Sometimes we expect too much, and that’s our fault too.”

On Indian Business Leaders

Kapil Dev spoke at length about Gautam Adani and his rise as a business leader. “I met Gautam (Adani) about 35 years ago, when I stopped playing in ’90. I’ve known him since then, and I think he’s grown much bigger than anybody I’ve met in my lifetime. He’s done wonderfully well. You feel proud of people who’ve gone through hard times, worked very hard, and made empires as big as that. People raise fingers, but that’s okay; anybody can raise fingers. If you can’t reach there, you can only put a finger on them, so I think Gautam Bhai has done extremely well, and we should be proud about our top business leaders.”

Twenty years ago, nobody wanted to be CEO of an international company. Anshu Jain was the first person who became CEO of Deutsche Bank, and after that, everybody wanted to be a CEO of an international company. People like Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani, or the Tatas—they’ve built a name for the country, and we should be proud of that.”

In his final thoughts, he said, “Don’t focus on the setbacks or when things weren’t going well. Even for Gautam Adani, you can see ups and downs in the newspapers, with international people trying to pull him down. But if you carry on working, at the end of the day, people will realize how good you are.