Subhas was a 'father figure', says Kapil

KOLKATA: Terming Subhas Chakraborty a "father figure", India's World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev on Sunday regretted that he could not attend condolence meeting of the former West Bengal Sports Minister, who died on August 3.
"I wanted to be a part of the occasion. But it's very sad that I could not go there. He was a good friend, an elder brother, a father figure for me.His loss is personal and huge for me. He always kept his words," Kapil said.
"I know him from a long time, about two decades ago. Our relationship developed over a period of time. I was in touch with him over phone and met with him in Delhi when he was hospitalised a few months ago," he said from Switzerland.
Chakraborty had stood by Kapil and promised to make available stadia for the 'rebel' Indian Cricket League (ICL) last year, even as the BCCI raised a few eyebrows.
In 1992, Chakraborty had even persuaded Kapil to play for East Bengal in an exhibition football match at Yuva Bharati Krirangan in Salt Lake.
The "Haryana Hurricane" was to come for the condolence meeting at the former minister's residence in Salt Lake today.
Kapil is currently at Interlaken in Switzerland along with some of the members of 1983 World Cup winning team for a friendly cricket match against an All Stars UK team, led by former West Indian captain Alvin Kallicharan.
The cricket on ice was organised to celebrate India's Independence Day on Top of Europe.
Condolence meetings in memory of the sports minister were also held by the Cricket Association of Bengal and CITU.