Kapil paaji was always there for us: Sachin Tendulkar

When Sachin Tendulkar made his International debut back in 1989, legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev was in the final phase of his iconic career. Nevertheless, Tendulkar had the privilege to share the dressing room with the “Haryana Hurricane” for a good three years and also represented the national side together in the first white-ball World Cup in 1992.

Tendulkar recalled some wonderful moments he shared with Kapil Dev in journalist Rajdeep Sardesai’s book launch. He recollected how well the senior pro used to take care of all the cricketers and how wonderful he was with his juniors.

“I remember when Kapil Dev was my roommate when I was a young upcoming player in the Indian team. So I had to be on my best behavior and do whatever Kapil told me to. He would switch off the lights at 10.30pm and told me, ‘Tendlya ab sona hai’ (Tendlya it’s time to sleep), so I would go off to sleep,” recalled Sachin.

And then in the morning, we had a 9 am departure and that’s when Kapil Dev woke me up at around 8.15am and asked me, ‘Tendlya tere liye chai banaun?’ (Tendlya should I make tea for you). So I would jump up from my bed and I was like no paaji let me make the tea for you. That was his nature. Talking about Kapil paaji taking care fo youngsters, he was very much there for us,” he added.

Kapil made everyone believe: Sunil Gavaskar

Kapil Dev is known for breaking various non-sensical stereotypes. Hailing from a humble background in Haryana, he was the first sought of non-metro player to have an impact in Indian cricket history. His companion Sunil Gavaskar recalled how important Kapil Dev’s meteoric rise was in the larger picture.

He also recalled how perception on fast bowling changed in the country thanks to Kapil Dev. He believes a lot of credit should be given to the World Cup winning captain for changing the scenario in this aspect. He also said that Kapil made youngsters from meteor towns believe in themselves.

“There were also some odd players who came in from smaller states but they could never really have an impact. Kapil changed it all. Bhishan (Singh Bedi) played for Delhi for a long time even though he started with Punjab but Kapil played for Haryana throughout. Therefore, he was the first sought of non-metro player to have an impact. That is the reason why I say that if today Indian cricket can go and scout and find cricketers from all nooks and corners and not just the metros, it’s only thanks to Kapil,” said Gavaskar.

“Kapil made everyone believe that they can go on to play for India and captain India. Till then the players from metros used to dominate the playing XI and a couple from non-metro states would be included in the squad for namesake but Kapil changed all that. Today if India talk of fast bowling as so high, I think the credit goes only to Kapil Dev because he should that you can take wickets even in India, bowling quick. He was a flamboyant cricketer who got the crowd in,” Gavaskar added.