Sunil Gavaskar Hails Kapil Dev As The Greatest All-rounder India Have Ever Produced

‘Little Master’ Sunil Gavaskar has hailed former Indian World Cup-winning captain and legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev as the biggest match-winner that the country has ever produced.

Having made his debut in 1978, Kapil Dev, courtesy his precocious ability to make an impact with both bat and ball, quickly went on to impinge himself as one of the leading all-rounders of the 1980s.

Besides his success as a player, Kapil Dev led India with aplomb and took them to their maiden World Cup heist, on this day 37 years ago.

Gavaskar strolled down memory lane on the 37th anniversary of India’s World Cup win and reminisced about his first meeting with Kapil Dev and how he helped the ‘Haryana Hurricane’ despite him being in the opposition camp.

“In my opinion, Kapil Dev is the biggest match-winner India has ever produced. This is so because he could win games both with his batting and bowling abilities,” Sunil Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Jagran.com.

“I remember the first time I played against him was at Chennai’s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in the Wills Trophy in 1978. We had just returned from the tour of Australia and Kapil and another talented all-rounder Rajendra Jadeja started to bowl against Mumbai,” Gavaskar revealed.

“Kapil was bowling well but was bowling from a bit wide of the crease, so I was able to leave the deliveries easily. When I went towards his end I asked him to bowl from a bit closer to the wicket. His teammates thought I was sledging him but he told them otherwise and then started to trouble the Mumbai batsmen following my suggestion,” he added.

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Sunil Gavaskar also opened up about his alleged ‘rift’ with Kapil Dev during their playing days

Gavaskar said that his gesture stayed with Kapil Dev for the rest of their playing days and the latter always used to treat him with utmost respect thereafter.

“This was the first instance when I met him and the fact that I helped him despite being on the opposite team, I think that stayed with him and he always respected me thereafter.” Sunil Gavaskar said.

Throughout the 1980s, Indian captaincy was like a revolving door with Gavaskar and Dev taking turns every alternate year. During that period, reports and rumors of a ‘rift’ between the two superstars was a norm.

When asked about his alleged ‘rift’ with Kapil Dev, Gavaskar said a few members of the board and some retired players used to plant those rumors in the media.

“Few members of the board and some players who had retired at the time joined hands with the media and tried to create differences between us. But we were always thinking about the betterment of the sport in the country and that is why we never let it bother us.” he added.

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