Dev believes that Tendulkar should retire when he feels the time is right

India legend Kapil Dev has called on the national team to start looking for talents beyond iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar since it will only be a matter of time before the ‘Little Master’ has no choice but to bring his illustrious international career to an end.

Coming into the Test series against England, Tendulkar had been heavily criticised for his form and there was even speculation that his reaction time was starting to slow down.

In an exclusive interview with PTI, Dev said: “Sachin will be the centre of attraction. The focus will be on him. But you can not rely only on Sachin. He is an important player, but it is the time when youngsters will have to shoulder the responsibility.”

India will be looking to use their home advantage to defeat England, but Dev believes that their plan could potentially backfire since England will get to grips with the pitches and conditions sooner rather than later.

“If you are playing on a turning wicket, toss plays an important role. The team that wins the toss gets an opportunity to play on the fresh wicket. You should always prepare the wicket as per team’s strength. But a rank turner might backfire,” Dev added.

The legendary all-rounder also noted that this series would be an excellent test for opening pair Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, who have both been in dismal form as of late.

“Sehwag and Gambhir are big players, they hold a lot of importance,” Dev said. “However, they have been struggling since last 15-20 Tests and it is really terrifying that what will happen if they don’t score at the top.”

“Every player has a reputation and on that basis a team is selected but if they don’t perform the team might have to struggle. Our opening is weak. If we get a good beginning, we can dominate England.”

Dev stated that India will find it tough to win the series by a massive margin since their bowling attack is very weak at the moment, especially in the pace department.

“The situation is tough,” Dev added. “We don’t have strong bowling. If we win the series by clinching one or two Tests it will be a great achievement.”

“Zaheer Khan is not in great form. Harbhajan (Singh) is also not performing well. In such circumstances if we win the series it will be a great thing.”

When asked if India have enough variety in their team, Dev said: “If you have two good off spinners, what is the problem in playing both of them. If you have two Tendulkars won’t you play them? Selectors have picked the best available team. Variety should be there, but that doesn’t mean you won’t play your best player.”

Dev also mentioned that even though England might have some disharmony amongst their players due to the Kevin Pietersen saga, they still possess a strong and ruthless batting and bowling lineup.

“I don’t think England is weak,” Dev added. “They have got very good batsmen, all-rounders and their bowling is also strong. They have got the tail-enders which can contribute to the total. I don’t think they are weak. Their only weakness is the lack of harmony in the team. But once they will start playing even that thing will disappear.”

Many cricket pundits believe that India are looking for revenge against England after they received a humiliating 4-0 whitewashing last year, but Dev has warned the national team that focusing too much on getting revenge may do more harm than good.

“As far as the revenge is concerned, the team should focus on giving their best and wining the series,” Dev said.