New Delhi: Kapil Dev helped an 'underdog' Indian outfit beat the mighty West Indies side to lift the 1983 Cricket World Cup. It was the watershed moment for the sport in India, and in the following years, the gentleman's game emerged as a national obsession.
But Kapil, who is still regarded as India's finest ever all-rounder, credits Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni as the ones who changed the face of Indian cricket.
Speaking to International Business Times during the Golf Championship in Bengaluru, Kapil said, “All three are different kind of cricketers. They brought a new generation of people to the ground. That was very important. Sachin was instrumental, playing for 24 years and inspiring so many people to take up the game. Virender Sehwag changed the style of modern-day cricket.
All three players are modern-day greats. Tendulkar, often regarded as the greatest ever batsman with 100 international hundreds, commands an unrivalled fan base. It can safely be said that every locality in India has a Sachin. Such is his presence in the collective consciousness of India.
Then arrived Sehwag...he didn't really care about records and personal glory, and took the game to the opposition everytime he played. His approach, and up to some extent that of former captain Sourav Ganguly, is what the current Indian team has adopted, with great success.
But both the players are big-city boys, a prerequisite once considered a must to break into the national team. All that changed with the introduction of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India's most successful captain.
And this is what Dev said about the Ranchi superstar, “And Dhoni, coming from a small town, made it big. Every Indian now feels he can belong to a small town and still dream of becoming like Dhoni.”
Known as the 'Haryana Hurricane' during his heydays, Kapil played 131 Tests and 225 ODIs, scoring 5248 and 3783 runs, respectively, besides taking the then record number of wickets. He retired as the most successful Test bowler at that time with 434 wickets. He also took 253 ODI wickets.
