If Hardik Pandya Makes Silly Mistakes, Don't Compare Him With Me: Kapil Dev

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya played a terrible shot to throw away his wicket in the second innings of the second Test match against South Africa in Centurion. India's legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev was not pleased with Pandya's dismissal and criticised the young all-rounder for making such silly errors at the international level. Dev was quite critical of Pandya's performance in the recently-concluded Test match that India lost by 135 runs and said that he doesn't deserve to be compared to him if he keeps making such silly mistakes.

Pandya is often considered as India's best all-rounder since the days of the legendary Dev.

"If Pandya keeps making silly mistakes like these then he doesn't deserve to be compared with me," Dev told 'ABP' news. Dev was reacting to Pandya's dismissal in the second innings.

Chasing a target of 287 in the fourth innings, India were reeling at 65 for five when Pandya came into bat.

Pandya was on 6 when he went for his famous ramp shot and chased a wide ball off Lungi Ngidi, only managing an edge to wicketkeeper Quinton De Kock.

In the first inning too, Pandya ran himself out when he forgot to ground his bat. The casual approach was criticised by experts.

"He definitely has a lot of talent, he has shown it in the first Test but I believe he needs to work on the mental aspect." Kapil said.

Former India cricketer Sandeep Patil also mentioned that comparing the two was not ideal because Pandya is still in early stages of his cricketing career.

"I have played a lot of cricket with Kapil, really there is no comparison. Kapil played 15 years for India with terrific performances and Pandya is only in his fifth Test match. There is a long way to go," Patil said.

(With PTI Inputs)