Too early for Mendis mania: Kapil

Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev praised Mendis but felt media was going overboard with the coverage of the bowler, who had to still prove his credentials.Spl: Mission Sri Lanka

Legendary Kapil Dev on Wednesday praised Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis for his splendid show against India so far but felt media was going overboard with the coverage of the bowler, who had to still prove his credentials.

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"No doubt that Mendis' performance in the on-going India-Sri Lanka series is very good but media has highlighted him a bit too prominently. It is too early to say if he will continue to perform like this for long," said Kapil, who was here to attend a function of Birla Sunlife Insurance, of which he is the brand Ambassador.

"So far Mendis has done extraordinary well and launched his cricket carrier in a marvellous way, but Indian batsmen are capable enough to tackle his bowling," he added.

Pointing out on the injuries of players due to too much cricket in BCCI's calendar, Kapil evaded a direct reply and said it was up to players to decide whether it was really too much cricket.

Regarding growth of ICL, Kapil said it was just one-year- old baby and how could one expect it to grow overnight.

In the years to come, ICL would open academies in several cities, he added.

Kapil congratulated Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Kumar and Sushil Kumar for winning Olympic medals and said now people and government would think of other sports as well.

"Government should concentrate to all sports if India likes to improve its tally in the medal list of Olympic," he said.