‘Little Master’ Sunil Gavaskar would have been the best T20 batter if he had played in this era, stated Kapil Dev, India’s first captain to win a World Cup.
“I love everything in cricket — T20, T10, One-day, everything. I always maintain one thing more. They said Sunil Gavaskar, I said had he played during this period he would have been best player in T20 also.
“The people who have a strong defence, for them hitting is much easier. Defence is difficult. So I always said, remember that person who has a great defence; he can always attack because he has that much extra time,” Kapil said at the Indian Chamber of Commerce ICC Centenary Session in Kolkata on Thursday.
Recalling his early days, Kapil said, “I didn’t know how to block. I mean, I said before, also Bishan Bedi paaji sent me as a night-watchman. I was a rookie, didn’t know anything about cricket.”
Praising the city’s cricket culture, he added, “Kolkata has the most knowledgeable crowd. I think Calcutta people understand the game much better than other people.”
When Kapil thought back on India’s historic 1983 World Cup victory, he attributed it to his Punjabi mindset and belief.
“Punjabis are basically little mad, you know… They are crazy people so they set a target in their mind.
“It was my belief… when the team starts believing it changes. Captain is always mad; chairman of the company’s or CEO of the company’s is mad. He gives such a target, but target can only be complete if the entire team starts believing. I think halfway through the tournament the team started believing, yes, we can win.”
Mithali Raj, a former captain of the Indian women’s team who was present during the session, recounted the occasion when India recently won a world championship at home.
“It was this quiet emotion to see that ‘India’ engraved on that Cup… Because every time you get the photo shoot done when you qualify to play the final you’re next to the trophy and you only see Australia, England and New Zealand,” Mithali said.
“I was there twice. I got to do that photo shoot and every time it was like when we should be getting ‘India’ there, and finally we got it Only when the crowd roared, I knew we finally won. Winning it at home was a huge thing.”
