Why there’s no running out Kapil Dev

'Kapil Dev suffers a heart attack.’ ‘Kapil Dev undergoes heart surgery.’ The last few weeks, social media has been flooded with posts related to the former India World Cup-winning captain’s health. Dev was in hospital to undergo angioplasty and prayers poured in for his speedy recovery. Perhaps the last time the country prayed for an icon’s recovery in such a fashion was in 1982 when Amitabh Bachchan had to be hospitalised with a ruptured intestine during a shoot.In less than 20 days after being discharged from the hospital, Dev was seen last week teeing off at the Delhi Golf Club, a walking distance from his home. “You can't express in words what fun it is to be back on the golf course or a cricket ground. It is beautiful to be back at the golf course, having fun and playing with friends. That's what life is all about,” he said in a video posted for his fans and well-wishers, with a grin.“Beautiful” is a word that features more than often in his conversations. “Beautiful” ball, “beautiful” shot, “beautiful” song… for Dev, life is, as he likes to call it, just “beautiful.” And why not? He has always lived for the present.His time in the hospital, however, came as a rude shock for him. “Not for a moment was I scared though. Not at all! But it was a reality check no doubt. You must accept that certain things in life change with age,” he says. “You have to understand that age can make you slow down. What you did 10 years ago with comfort may appear a tiring challenge.”https://t.co/IghIvCG7eP— Kapil Dev (@therealkapildev) 1603466520000For Dev, it's been golf the last few decades that has kept him going. It has also made him test his limits and kept him motivated. “Fifteen years ago, I came across a rope on the course. It had been tied two feet above the ground. Normally, I would have jumped over it. Or, coolly lifted it and slipped below it... but I realised that some things are not going to be the same anymore. I was not going to skip stairs anymore. Age has taught me that lesson. I had to slow down in my own interest,” he says. "The five parathas that I used to lop off at breakfast came down to just one without the butter.”Good to be back on the Golf Course .... https://t.co/M3V6D7KEoF— Kapil Dev (@therealkapildev) 1605166409000Being in the hospital was also not a familiar setting for the 61-year-old cricketing legend who was never run out in any of the 131 Test matches that he figured in. “You do experience new things. I have been telling myself that I have to be happy wherever I am. The hospital room was not going to pull me down. I just kept my ears and eyes open to the surroundings around me before and after the surgery. Believe me I am going to cherish that experience. Good, it happened because I am going to look after myself better now.”Born in Chandigarh, Dev is a self-avowed Dilliwala, having lived in the capital for close to four decades. He was brought up in a business family, where his doting mother ensured that he got the desired diet to play cricket. His professional career took off with first-class cricket in 1975. His Test debut came at Faisalabad against Pakistan in 1978. In 1994, he bid goodbye to professional cricket; his farewell game took place in an ODI against the West Indies at Faridabad, with a sterling record — 131 Tests (5,248 runs and 434 wickets) and 225 ODIs (3,783 runs and 253 wickets). medium88477325In history, however, he will go down as India’s first captain to bring home the World Cup. Dev brought respect to India’s fast bowling department, making opposing batsmen wear helmets, inspiring a generation after to emulate him. He was a champion cricketer who could command a place in the team on the strength of his batting as well as his bowling. Being an all-rounder also meant he was almost indispensable during his international career of 15 years. Dev retired with the then world record for the greatest number of Test wickets, a record broken by Courtney Walsh of West Indies in 2000.His talent propelled him to become India’s coach from October 1999 to August 2000, but Dev did not meet the success that was expected of him. His first day as coach was awful as India was bowled out for 83 in 27 overs in the Test against New Zealand at Mohali. The match was drawn and India won that series 1-0, but suffered humiliation in Australia, losing all the three Tests on the 1999-2000 tour. The subsequent 2-0 loss to South Africa at home hastened Dev's exit as the coach.5,248 runs and 434 wickets - #OnThisDay in 1978, the great @therealkapildev made his Test debut for India https://t.co/oM2vdWZQuO— ICC (@ICC) 1476594000000For someone who likes to stay active, it wasn't easy for him to come to terms with his retirement. He had seen some of his former colleagues grapple with this stage in life. “I saw them hit the bottle in desperation and depression that came from fading from the limelight,” he says. “I made a conscious effort to stay relevant. And I did that by playing golf because it gave me the platform to meet different people. When you meet different people, you get different ideas. I would look up to people who had done well in life. I would marvel at a sprightly 70-year-old and would hope to be like him when I reach that age.”Today Dev spends most of his time at his office in central Delhi, with a staff of 20, looking after his business of setting up and maintaining floodlights at many sports grounds in the country. “I tell myself that life is beautiful, even when you can’t do things you love so much. I live in the moment. When I was fit I played to the best of my abilities in my era. I took up challenges, set goals and benchmarks, and enjoyed my cricket. They were unforgettable years but I could not have held onto them all my life. I had to move on.”The 1983 triumph when India won the World Cup triggered a cricket revolution. It not only changed the face of the game in India, but also the way cricket was played — attracting players from small towns across the country to aspire to play for India. 83, a film based on India's epic victory was to release this year on the big screen, but has been delayed due to the pandemic. Dev is terribly excited to watch Ranveer Singh play him on screen. “We have contributed to the film with priceless inputs from every member of the team," he says. "We expect it to hit the screens in 2021.” medium88455936Today he enjoys the game as intently as a spectator. He admires the energy and drive young players are bringing to the sport. He relishes the T20 brand of cricket, which was first introduced in 2003 by the England and Wales Cricket Board.“It’s extremely demanding. The task of 20 runs from the last over can be achieved even by a No 7 or No 8 batman. More than often you are bound to get those runs. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has changed the mindset of the players. They are so aggressive and keen to win. In the process the fielding standards have reached astounding limits," he says. "The quality of fielding from the time I came to the Indian team [in 1978] has improved a thousand times over. I am not exaggerating, many from that team in 1979 and 1980 would not have been able to throw the ball from the boundary like the way they do today.”The subject of fielding makes him remember the time when they were on tour to Australia in 1985-86. “The straight boundary at Adelaide tests your speed and strength of the throwing arm. It so happened, one of our fielders had to give a long chase and he was deeply embarrassed to see the batsmen turning to take the fifth run. He wisely kicked the ball over to concede a boundary and saved a run. This will not happen in today’s times. You can’t hide a clumsy fielder anymore.”Happy Birthday to Kapil Dev, India's greatest all-rounder!A destructive batsman and potent fast bowler, at one po… https://t.co/6FK9j2G9AX— ICC (@ICC) 1546795802000Dev feels that he would have loved to play T20 cricket, but says there is not much scope for experimenting for a captain in T20. “Captaincy can be different for different individuals. This IPL, you look at Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma… I didn’t see much difference in their approach. To me the pattern looked similar. I would have loved captaining though, because it is an exciting task.”At heart, he remains a quintessential sportsman. He has been good at most sports from a young age — be it, football, golf, cricket, table tennis, swimming, tennis, billiards, squash, badminton, among others. “They kept me fit, focused and, above all, constantly engaged in meaningful exercise. I even enjoyed kite flying,” he laughs. medium88456077What bothers him today though is this culture of hero-worshipping. He stresses on the importance of a “team winning" over an “individual shining”. “Why do we want to know what Virat Kohli did when the team lost? To me, what matters is that India lost. I find it hard to accept, this looking for individual heroes and not team excellence.”He also dislikes that there’s an air of negativity constantly being spread today and why need to look at how things have improved. “I am aghast at how some people have views on every issue under the sky on TV. I am not an expert on open economics. Does it make sense for me to participate in a debate involving the economic state of the country,” he says. “Things have changed. We have some of the best cities, transport, and infrastructure. Middle class people can easily fly now. Look at the sporting stadiums… we have some of the world’s best stadiums. We have champion stars like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Mary Kom. We have learnt to respect our performers... There was a time we would have a 30-minute weekly show on sports on Doordarshan. Champions craved for recognition. Now they are always so visible. Twenty years ago, mostly cricketers would gain recognition. I am so happy to see kabaddi players getting endorsements today. Prakash Padukone was the biggest diamond of Indian sport, but did he get the recognition he deserved? I would say the same for Dhyan Chand, Balbir Singh (Sr), Geet Sethi, Michael Ferreira… they never got the recognition they deserved.”Dev's reasons to be angry are perhaps understandable. His was a time when the sport was not as glamorous as it is today. The sport would barely attract investment and most players would have to look after their health and diet on foreign tours. “We could not order a cup of tea at the hotel because that would take away most of the allowance of the day,” he says. “I would feel so sad when a colleague would have to skip dinner. It would be heartbreaking since many of our teammates would explore cheap eateries, even as Test cricketers. Thank god all that has changed now.” Indeed.(This piece first appeared on November 15, 2020)Untitled Carousel 88393559