"I Took The Initiative. Told Him, 'Kaps, We Need To Talk'': India Great Reveals How He Convinced Kapil Dev To Retire

1983 World Cup Winning Captain Kapil Dev was one of the finest all-rounders the game has ever produced. It was under his leadership that India won its maiden ICC Cricket World Cup. The all-rounder can be seen on news channels where he shares his views and doesn’t fear making a statement on big players.

The peculiarity of Kapil Dev is that he never boasts any player. The former Captain was recently seen sharing his views on the Asia Cup 2022 with Pakistani greats. The legends of the game were having candid conversations which was great to see irrespective of the political differences between the two nations.

Anshuman Gaekwad on Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev’s friend, Anshuman Gaekwad who is now BCCI Apex Council shared an interesting story. “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 Vishy (Gundappa Vishwanath) told me, ‘See the headlines. Kapil is saying that he will play for two more years, “ Gaekwad was quoted as saying 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,” former India coach said.

“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,”  said Gaekwad

Kapil Dev’s reaction was pretty normal. “Thank you very much. I really appreciate what you told me,” said Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev A Fearless Expert

Kapil Dev had made a bold remark that the selection panel should drop an out-of-form Virat Kohli from T20I Squad. His statement received a lot of criticism as Rohit Sharma said that they don’t pay attention to the experts. Kapil Dev’s statement to some extent was realistic as Virat was looking awful during IPL 2022 & England tour.

Kapil Dev recently praised Virat Kohli for his fantastic century and was overjoyed to see the batter’s rise.  We should not forget that Kapil Dev’s team was the one who made India great at ICC events. This expert may be unorthodox but they have a better understanding of the game.

Also Read: Watch – IND vs PAK: “We Can Only Sit Here And Discuss, But…”: Kapil Dev’s Blunt Reply To Pakistan Anchor Over India’s Big Playing XI Call