Sunil Gavaskar: Kapil Dev sowed the seeds for India's fast-bowling riches
The HinduRecounting distinctive phases of Indian cricket with characteristic sobriety and the odd touch of humour, Sunil Gavaskar, delivering the 26th Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture at the National Museum here, provided perspective to its global might today. The 70-year-old Gavaskar, who himself represented an era in the 1970s and 80s alongside others, paid humble tribute to the contributions of a number of cricketers, including three eminent players who played alongside him for India — Ajit Wadekar, Gundappa Viswanath and Kapil Dev. If today India has a cornucopia of fast bowlers, it is thanks to Kapil Dev.” Wadekar, he said, brought in a winning mentality under his captaincy that culminated in the World Cup win in 1983. “This has baffled me,” Gavaskar said dryly, “as when we did well, nobody threw valuables at us.” He was quick to add that the Indian spectator had matured “since the violent days of the 1960s, 70s and 80s.” “Today's spectator is a lot better off than those days when frustration with how some of their lives were shaping made them take it out on the players from the teams that lost,” he said. The clout had increased further since the advent of the Indian Premier League, but Gavaskar sounded a warning: “Today the IPL dominates even the Ranji Trophy, and unless the playing fees for the first-class cricketer is substantially increased, he will always feel like the orphan and poor cousin of Indian cricket.”