Six months after the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced a ban on one-day matches for junior teams up to the under-17 age group, Indian cricket icon Kapil Dev has asked the Board to review its decision.

Speaking to rediff.com at a promotional event for Sony Entertainment Television at the St Stanislaus�school in Bandra, northwest Mumbai, Kapil Dev said, "One-day cricket is so prominent these days, it will be a mistake to ignore it."

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The former India skipper, who is promoting the Under-19 World Cup to be hosted in Bangladesh in February, added that the Board should not stop youngsters from playing one-day cricket because, after all, it reaches out to more people.

"It is important to teach youngsters the basics; but not by shutting them out of the one-day mode. I think the Board should plan the entire project for youngsters properly instead of making such decisions," he said.

"How can a newcomer not play one-day cricket and then suddenly be thrust into an Under-19 World Cup match? He will struggle!"

Speaking about his just-released autobiography, he said, "Just read my autobiography and you will understand why I wrote it.

"For the past 40 years people have been saying what they think of me and I listened. This time I thought I would say my own story, in my own words. Life has changed a lot for me and I want to tell people that."

He said he had absolutely no problems writing the book, since it was just cataloging the incidents in his life over the last 40 years.���

"I just think�the most difficult part of the book was that I had to fill 45 years into 400 pages. I wish I could fill at least 1,000 pages."

In a departure from his earlier stand against the Indian team having a foreign coach, Kapil�said if the youngsters [in the team] are happy with him [the coach] and hiring a foreign coach is helping the country, then so be it.

"But if a Sandeep Patil can take Kenya to the semi-final of the World Cup, why can't he do the same with this Indian team?" he asked.

Kapil Dev�was coach of the Indian team before New Zealand's John Wright took over in early 2001.�His stint is�eminently forgettable.�During�his tenure India lost its first home Test series in 15 years in 2000, when they were beaten by South Africa 0-2.