Legendary allrounder Kapil Dev today credited Ravindra Jadeja for the recent success of the Indian cricket team and termed the Saurashtra player the "most valued cricketer" presently.
"Since he (Jadeja) came in, it made so much difference to the team. He is the most valued cricketer at the moment," Kapil said.
Kapil said Jadeja was a great asset to the team with his impressive bowling, batting and sharp fielding.
"In last one year, he has established himself more than an allrounder. He was the one who lifted the fielding, he set the standards not lift the standards.
"Good to see a player of his calibre who can play and win matches with his batting, bowling and on top of that with his fielding. Hats off to him. It's great to have a player of his ability in the team," the 1983 World Cup winning skipper said on the sidelines of Cricket Association of Bengal's annual awards ceremony.
Having seen the youngsters perform during India's successful Champions Trophy campaign, the cricketer-turned-commentator said the gen next did not let anybody feel the absence of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir.
"When you did not have the big players who had served the country so well, and you don't miss them that means the next generation has arrived. I am not saying we don't miss the big names anymore but what I'm saying is that the young cricketers are playing so well that we did not miss the big guns," he said.
