Kapil Dev is among the greatest cricketers to have played the sport not just from India but also from the world. His all-round qualities as a player make him one of the finest to grace the sport. Not to forget, he was the captain of the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team whose triumph changed the destiny of the sport forever.
When Kapil quit the sport with 434 Test wickets to his name, he was the highest wicket-taker in the history of the longest format of the game. However, ex-Indian selector Anshuman Gaekwad has revealed that soon after Kapil broke Richard Hadlee’s record, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) had to convince him to retire. He explained that selectors were ready to move on from him but allowed him to play the Test series against Sri Lanka at home in 1994 to break Hadlee’s record. However, his statement in a press conference stating he wants to play two more years forced them to have a talk with him.
“You can’t drop such a big player. We allowed him [Kapil] to play the Test series against Sri Lanka, and he broke the world record in the Ahmedabad Test. We thought he would announce his retirement after breaking the record. However, that evening, at the press conference, he said that he’ll play for two more years. Next day, a seemingly hassled [chief selector Viswanath] Vishy told me, ‘See the headlines. Kapil is saying that he will play for two more years,’” said Gaekwad at an event in Mumbai as quoted by Mid-Day.
“That same evening, there was a national selection committee meeting. [Jagmohan] Dalmiya was the BCCI secretary. So, we sat and decided that it was time for Kapil to quit. I suggested to Dalmiya that as a selection committee chairman and senior, Vishy [Viswanath] should talk to him.
“However, Vishy insisted that I accompany him. “At tea time, we approached Kapil in the dressing room. Vishy wasn’t a forthright guy, who would tell you that you were doing something wrong on your face,” he added.
Opening up on his conversation with Kapil, Gaekwad stated that they offered Kapil a farewell game and the the former Indian captain took the selectors advice to him with grace and ultimately decided to hang up his boots.
“He would go round and round while talking to someone. So, I took the initiative. I told Kapil: ‘Kaps, we need to talk to you. The selectors feel that you need to quit now, and you also know it. We will give you a farewell game as per your choice, but you’ve got to call it a day.’ Kapil reacted very nicely and said: ‘Thank you very much. I really appreciate what you told me’. One has to do these kind of things at times, which I did,” Gaekwad stated.
Kapil’s last appearance for Team India was in an ODI game against West Indies at Faridabad in October 1994. His last game for the national team in Test cricket was earlier that year during the tour of New Zealand at Hamilton in March.
