Beating Pakistan was the best memory of ‘92 WC,says Kapil

Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev today said that victory over eventual champions Pakistan in the league stages of the 1992 World Cup was the most cherished moment for him in the quadrennial event Down Under.

“India didn’t play particularly well but if you ask me I would say my best memory is we beat eventual winner Pakistan in a league match. It’s not a positive memory for me,but to say we beat the team which held the trophy makes me feel better,” said Kapil,who was part of the Indian side that beat Pakistan by 43 runs. India finished a lowly seventh out of nine sides in the 1992 edition which was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The World Cup returns to the Australian continent in 2015 with the two nations once again joining hands to stage the biggest cricketing event to be held in February-March. Kapil was speaking at the ICC event where captains in that World Cup walked down memory lane and spoke candidly about their highs,lows and regrets. “The uniforms are my other memory. In the beginning,they looked odd. In the cricket world,we were used to playing in whites. Back then,the world was changing,television was changing and you need people to see more colour. So,I think they did a great thing,” he said. “Back then,people were calling it pyjama cricket but I think if you look back,you have to change yourself with the time and I think the administrators did the right thing. Now you look at Cricket World Cup as colourful and that’s because of 1992. It represents national pride and everybody has their own colours to identify themselves with and be proud,” he added.

Indian sides have notoriously played like champs at home and chumps overseas,but Kapil thinks the country’s triumph at this year’s Champions Trophy in the United Kingdom could prove to be a pivotal moment on the road to the game’s showpiece event in early 2015. “I think recently it’s happening,they start believing,it’s the self-belief,” Kapil said at the tournament launch yesterday. “I think the Champions Trophy,winning it,has given them a very big strength within themselves. “We are just hoping we carry on playing the way we are playing,” he said. Kapil said the influx of international players to India for the annual IPL tournament and the subsequent exchange of thoughts and ideas on the game had helped change the mindset of India’s cricketers. “I think possibly the thought processes have changed and that’s a good thing for the Indian team,” he said.

A key reason behind India’s struggles in Australia in particular has been their inability to adapt to different conditions and while Kapil admitted that would be an issue,he felt his country still had the ability to become just the third team in history to achieve back-to-back World Cup titles.

“Our team looks quite good,they have the ammunition to win the World Cup so I hope they can play good cricket,” Kapil said. “It’s very tough to win in Australia because the conditions is not exactly the way Indian teams like to have but I think they have the team that can win the World Cup. “I hope they are not peaking too early,” Kapil quipped.