Former India batsman VVS Laxman on Thursday said the heavy workload of modern-day cricketers is becoming a major hurdle in the country's hunt for an all-rounder who can be comparable to the legendary Kapil Dev. Players like Hardik Pandya have been compared with Kapil, the country's first World Cup-winning captain. But Laxman feels it is not easy for anyone to match up with both the bat and ball given the workload.

"It's a very difficult role being an all-rounder. Kapil paaji was someone who could take wickets and score runs. He was the ultimate match-winner for India. But with the amount of workload nowadays, it's very, very difficult," Laxman said during the YouTube launch of a book written by Boria Majumdar at the "Tata Literature Live Sports Yatras". Without naming Hardik, Laxman said: "There were some glimpses from some players, because they were focusing a lot on both the skills, ultimately with the amount of workload and matches the Indian team plays in three formats, it's very difficult to manage.