S Venkatraghavan used to say that I was always eating: Kapil Dev
Former India captain and all-rounder Kapil Dev was a towering personality in his heydays. Not only did he change the face of Indian cricket after the 1983 World Cup title win, Kapil Dev revolutionised sport in this country with both his batting and bowling.
But even the great Kapil Dev was scared of a cricketer and that was former captain S Venkataraghavan, when the pacer was playing under the latter.
Kapil Dev made his debut under the captaincy of Bishan Singh Bedi in 1978 against Pakistan at Faisalabad. But he also went on to play four Tests and three ODIs under the leadership of S Venkatraghavan.
“In England the evening break during a Test match is called a Tea break. Venkataraghavan always used to argue and fought saying why only tea break? It should be tea and coffee break. So he was like that. I was very scared of him. Firstly he only used to speak in English and secondly we all know his anger. Even when he was an umpire he used to give not out in a way as if he was scolding the bowler," Kapil Dev said.
“When I went to England in 1979, he was captain, I used to find a place where he can’t see me. We had Bedi, (Erapalli) Prasanna, (Bhagwat) Chandrasekhar, so he couldn’t really say much to them. And naturally whenever he saw me, he used to fire up. I used to have breakfast sitting in one corner because I was a heavy eater and he would be like ‘he’s always eating,’” Kapil Dev said in an interview with former India opener WV Raman.
Kapil Dev recalled another anecdote from 1983
Kapil Dev went on to represent India in 131 Tests and 225 ODIs and scored 5248 runs while picking up 434 Test wickets. The former India captain also recounted an incident in a Test against the West Indies in 1983.
Kapil Dev said he got confused when the off-spinner questioned him about bowling changes with such authority despite the former being the captain.
“I will tell you an incident when we were playing a Test in Barbados. That wicket was bit bouncy so fast bowlers were bowling more and the first spinner I introduced was Ravi Shastri. Venky was walking from the slips," Kapil Dev recalled.
“He said ‘Kapil’. I said ‘Yes Venky!’ By that time I had started to call him Venky but before that it was ‘sir’ only. He said ‘Did I say I don’t want to bowl?’ I didn’t understand who was the captain, he or me. I said ‘Yes Venky your time will come’. His nature was so lovable. He used to scold despite me being the captain,” the 61-year-old said.
S Venkatraghavan walked away from the game in 1983 after 57 Tests and 15 ODI caps. He went on to become a respected international umpire once he hung up his playing boots.