Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar had the audience in splits with their witty anecdotes on the occasion of the induction of India’s greatest all-rounder into the Legends Club Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
Kapil was presented the Hall of Fame certificate with a citation summing up his achievements and a certificate detailing his achievements in Tests and ODIs.
Gavaskar, who was inducted in 2013, also received the two certificates.
The certificates were presented by club president Madhav Apte and former India captains Nari Contractor and Ajit Wadekar.
With the two cricketing icons taking centrestage, it was also time for some repartee the two are known for.
Initially touching upon Bombay’s cricketing culture, Kapil said: “We came from non-cricketing centres. We tried to impress the Bombay people, Bombay cricketers and the Bombay media because Bombay kept the game going.
“Please keep it going. Anyone who was five to seven years older than us we looked up to him.
“There is no one in this country who does not want to be a Sunil Gavaskar. Was he the best in the game, no... I would say Sunil Gavaskar was best for the game, many will come and go, but he will always remain at the top.
“When you play cricket, it’s not just about how good you are, but it’s all about the impact you leave on people. That’s what he did.
“We played with passion. To be honest, the happiness that we get when we take a catch or get a hundred, I don’t think anyone else can get it. But with our success when people get happiness, we feel proud about it. Now I feel cricket has changed.”
Trouble with English
In a lighter vein, Kapil recalled how Gavaskar encouraged him to talk in English. “I said to Sunil in New Zealand ‘You know my vocabulary (in English), I cannot understand, I cannot manage talking in English.’ He said they will pay you money and I said ‘even then I cannot manage’.
“It was very funny, but he gave me an opportunity there and I talked. That’s the reason I asked how long can I talk, because my vocabulary will improve (as we go on).”
Kapil narrated another incident: “My first interview was with The Hindu ; they are totally English. The Bombay media understands one or two Hindi words, but they don’t understand.
The Hindu reporter came all the way from Madras to Delhi to interview me.
“I would say now that I was perhaps shy or had no confidence off the field. He said he wanted to interview me and I said to him literally, “can I come back (from the washroom). Then I asked my friend who played with me if I could take him for a movie.
“He asked Kya hua . And I said, someone has come from Madras to interview me in English, I will take you to a movie. So that was the situation.”
Gavaskar recalled the incident when he recommended Kapil Dev to Raj Singh Dungarpur for the CCI’s tour of East Africa.
“Within a short time he was in the Indian team for the Pakistan tour. He was a match-winner and whatever else I may have been, I was not an idiot to drop a match-winner. It was an absolute joy to play in the same team as Kapil.
“With due respect to all the wonderful players who have won matches for India over the years, no one has turned the match around with the bat and ball like Kapil has.
“It was tough for me as captain to stop him.”
