Kapil, Unplugged

The story of Kapil Dev is in fact the narrative of Indian cricket at a transformative juncture. Through him one can track the changing players, patrons and crowds. If modern cricket in the country begins with Pataudi’s daring to wager all for victory, Kapil Dev oversaw the transition to another era. If, as he put it in his personalised drawl, he did things ‘‘mah way’’, now India too began to play cricket their way. Never mind the stats, the intimidatory sledging and psy-ops on English grounds and in Pakistani stadia or even the received wisdom in the Indian cricketing establishment that the country could not produce fast bowlers.

It was not simply a dose of self-belief, Kapil’s strength lay in self-assessment. His trademark shots were not, as he repeatedly points out, found in cricketing manuals, they were not even immediately attractive to seniors like Sunil Gavaskar. And contrary to the Kapil myth, it was not a full-hearted attempt at derring-do, it was a prudent act of self-preservation. Early in his career, at the famous Test at Melbourne in 1981, he realised that he “could never be a genuine pace bowler” — but he could be a darn effective one. He strove to supplement his natural outswinger with deliveries acquired through coaching and practice. He learnt that a speedster’s challenge lies in beating injury as much as it does in scalping batsmen. In that world record of 434 (till Courtney Walsh grabbed the baton some years later) lay a mixture of raw creativity and keen craftsmanship.

All this and more is contained in these pages. It is a story brimming with telling contradictions. In Faisalabad, October 1978, he makes his debut. It’s a new day for Indian cricket too; he steams in to bowl at Sadiq Mohammad, who signals his verdict by requesting a helmet. Kapil’s teammates are as elated as they are baffled when he says that he has never watched a Test match before this one. Such were those days!

On Kapil Dev’s watch too the fortunes of cricketers were transformed. He began his career at a time when teammates did their own laundry to save something from their tour allowances for a rainy day. In time, he became Indian cricket’s most enduring brand, bringing flourish to corporate endorsements with his one-liners. And yes, it was on his person that cricket’s most damning crimes were sought to be projected.

These pages contain remembrances—certainly from the heart, but also straight into the tape recorder. Kapil Dev has conveyed his experiences, the shaping of his aspirations, the ebb and flow of matches and a whole career, as well as the anger and hurt at having all of that questioned by Manoj Prabhakar’s accusation. But. But if only this had been the penultimate draft, if only the ghost’s invisible hand had snipped a few bulges and smoothened the jarring phrase.