Kapil Dev gets candid with Neha Dhupia on JioSaavn #NoFilterNeha Season 5

Jyothi Venkatesh

Kapil Dev on how he spent his time through the lockdown

Oh, I think, wonderful. I am a positive man, I always look for something out of wherever, whichever situation I am and I feel I am looking at the positive side by spending time with my family all the time.

I never spent time in the garden so I am doing gardening, I am doing so many things which I have never done in my entire life. So, I say I have become more disciplined where the food comes. So, every day I am not crying, what a rough time, what a horrible time, no. It's a time, you can only enjoy your week if there is a Saturday, Sunday also. So this is what happened to us. You know there is a difficult time but a beautiful time, wehave seen all and good time will come but this is also a good time

Kapil Dev on fitness during the lockdown

No, I think discipline of your food is the most important. Once you cross certain age, I personally feel the food intake is very very important. So, you have to reduce your food intake. That's what I did I have become much more disciplined on the food and I don't want to put on weight that's the only thing I prepare in last three months

Kapil Dev on being a fundraiser for Covid relief

I think, first of all, you understand, people like us we just show our face and the people are important who are giving the money and I am playing Golf and raising funds, No, it’s the organizer who was trying to use us, that's fine, it's okay, I won’t take credit. I will just say, we have given our time for the event and that’s it. They are people who are looking up to something beautiful coming out and they are ready to pay the money, why not. Need of the hour is today, people like us should give maximum time for helping other people.

Kapil Dev on his Golf skills

I will just correct you there, I am not the best Golfer. Yes, among cricketers you can say that I am the better Golfer, not the best Golfer. God has given talent to everybody so I think perhaps God has distributed, on sport side, little more talent to me than other people. If you have to say the same thing Kapil you have to write this big essay for somebody, I don't think so, I will make hundred mistakes. So, you have to find your talent and try to work for that and I would say, God is kind and has given me talent on sports

Kapil Dev on being careful about getting injured

First of all, today’s cricketers if they are getting injured, I would say, they are playing almost 10 months in a year so the injury will come more you play more injuries can come. People like us was little kind also, 50% body come from your parent and rest you work on that and try to make.

As long as you know your own strength is very very important. I think I realised a little early that this is my strength and I don't have to cross that and if I cross that line, I will get injured so in the first series to Australia, I got injured, after that I realised I have to work on my certain muscles and certain part of my body and God was kind again, I would say I got injured during off season what we used to say, we used to play 5-6 months cricket, rest off season was very very important for me.

I used to work so hard, not during the season. During the season only performing. Off season when there is no cricket, I used to do so much exercise and that’s where I used to get injured and time to recover that. So, I would not that I never got injured, of course I got injured but God was kind I got injured when there was no cricket.

Kapil Dev on those old cricket days and fitness

Every individual cricketer has to look after himself. Yes, yes and no, I mean we were strict, certain people come out they were very conscious about themselves and sometimes certain people used to just play to have fun, to travel. So, things keep on changing time to time. When we enter, our age group enters, I think we were more disciplined in a sense ki we have to play much longer because this is your passion. If you keep yourself fit, you can play longer.

And some of the cricketers were there looking for the evening, what is going to happen in the evening, and including me, I was to look for the evening also but again, you used to get scared, darr jatey the ke kuch ho na jaaye. Every individual is different, today lot of people, new generations spend time in the gym, we didn't have those facilities, we didn't have mechanical things what these sports people today have.

We didn't have those types of clothes also, neither the shoes, but human bodies are such, they adjust themselves. I would say, today’s cricketers are amazing, they know everything and they apply, but still you find a few cricketers come out they have a talent but their mind is not there.

Kapil Dev on being a ladies’ man

Hello hello, let me put it that way, I am a ladies’ man, no not at all. I was the last person who used to say yaar sab ladkiya baki players ko dekti hai hamari taraf dekte hi nahi. I was not good looking and neither I will consider myself good looking. Mere mein itna guts hi nahi tha ki main unse baat kar saku. Ek chotisi story hai, jab mein14 saal ka tha, toh my sister studying in college at that time, uska cycle got punctured and she said bhaiya please mera theek karva dona.

I went with her to the cycle wala and I said ye thik karna hai and that cycle wala said, which I haven't forgotten in almost 45 years. He said ‘Memsaab, aap jaiye ye naukar ko chod jaiye, thik karke mein isko cycle de dunga’. So I understand where I stand and I haven't forgotten because usko Cricket ka nahi pata tha, he was just a simple guy on the street thinking that thik hai yaar mundu ko bhej do ye mundu cycle thik karva ke le aayega and my sister got so upset, she said ‘tum thik tarah bhi nahi, ek toh tum ho bhi nahi good looking aur look at kapde bhi aise dalte ho’. So I realized where I stand. So, if somebody says you are good looking – never. Ha good cricketer you say, I will take that.

Kapil Dev on cricket as a career – then and now

In our time, making a life out of cricket wasn't there. Now it's okay, parents bring their kids to the ground, hamare time mein toh thappad padte the, chalo zyada khelne ja raha hai, 24 gante khelta rehta hai. So, I think things have changed, when you made yourself through sports then parents recognize yes ability hai, talent hai, he can make a life out of that. But in the beginning, I won't say my mother knew cricket, my father didn't know what is cricket. 24 gante lakdi ke sath khelta rehta hai, so what one can say about that.

Kapil Dev on his passion for cricket

Every young person, a boy, wants to play cricket and sometimes you don't know ki your end result is you have to play for the country, who bohot late pata chalta hai. As a 13-14 year old you just want to play and aaj kalki jo research hai, bacche badi badi baat karte hai ki nahi I was 10 years old, I want to play for the country, humare time nahi tha, humare time yeh thaki humein khelneko mil jaye.

Humare time toh ye thaki humein khelne se roka jata tha kyuki allowed hi nahi tha. Sabhi rokte the, hum toh school ke bag me bhi apni white shorts leke jate the kichori se change karlenge jaise aajkal ladkiya ghar se kapde alag dal ke jati hai aur raste me disco ke kapde dalti hai. I mean that's okay, that's fine, this is what used to happen and we used to take our shorts, who jake fir hum change karte the raste me, so chori se hum cricket khelte the. Shayad uss samay itni knowledge parents ko bhi nahi thi, hume bhi nahi thi. Hame sirf passion tha and that's what we used to do

Kapil Dev on his wife Romi being ‘culture’ and he being ‘agriculture’!

Romi’s Father in 50's studied in Harvard, grandfather 100 years back studied in Oxford. Hamare liye school mein hi jana bohot badi baat thi, college bhi mushkil se pahunchte the, so I said that these two people we met, ek toh cultured hai, total cultured, ek total agriculture hai, hamari toh 7 Pushto me kisi ne city nahi dekhi thi, suddenly after the partition we came to the city. So I did make a statement, I said there is lot of difference but this statement was made for cricketer.

I said I come from a very agriculture background,all the cricketer's who played with me, they come from a very high cultured, because uss time sirf cultured people hi cricket khelte the, agriculture nahi khelte the. Toh I said something like that. Maine inse bahut kuch sikha, shayad inhone mere se agriculture nahi sikha. That was the statement.

Kapil Dev on what Romi’s father said when he said he plays cricket for a living

Romi’s Father was okay, understand that okay cricket khelta hai, but Romi’s grandfather unko tha ye question aisa hua ki unse pucha gaya ki jab my father-in-law talked to his father ki ladki ke sath yeh ladka hai, kehte kya karta hai, kehte cricket khelta hai, who toh thik hai par karta kya hai. Who puche ja rahe hai, old man must be 90 years old, they said ki kya karta hai ladka, cricket khelta hai, who toh thik hai par karta kya hai. Uss samay cricket mein life nahi thi unn logo ke liye jo aaj se 70 saal pehele the.

Who toh khete hai cricket toh sab khelte hai thik hai par aur kya karta hai. Aaj kal koi IPL khelta ho toh usko puchne ki zarurat nahi hai ki kya karta hai, IPL khelta hai meaning uski saat pushte sudhar gayi.

Kapil Dev on his infamous proposal

We were travelling in a car and that time an Amul ad was there. Amul had come out with a great ad. So, instead of 'couple of these',they said 'Kapil of these make all the difference', with my two teeth coming out with a butter. So that ad, it was very funny and I said to my better half I said, 'Rom, iska photo le lo.' She said 'Kyu'? I said bacho ko dikhaenge. So she said, 'Are you proposing? We are in the car and it was a big hoarding there. And, I said yeh photo toh le lo, bacho ko dikhaenge. She said are you proposing to me? I said what's it sound like? That's what happened

Kapi Dev on his memories with Bishan Singh Bedi as his captain

Oh, when I played my first series in Pakistan, he was a captain and he was a Punjabi. So two things were very important. He couldn't understand my language. I couldn't understand his language because he was half English man. His accent, he talked such a great finesse. Bishan paaji, I remember, first shouting I got, lot of love and affection we got. I mean, enormous. I can't even express how much love and affection he's given us as youngsters. But, in Lahore test, he sent me a night watchman.

Woh jo last ke 5 over hote hai na khelne ke liye, cricketing terms. He said to me, 'Okay, let Kapil go as main batsman out.' I was number 9, 10 batting. So main jaake khela and in two overs, I made 22- not out and overnight I was very happy ke I made so many runs, nobody expected. I comeback to the dressing room, he got a hold of me, 'He said, oye, pehelwan, terko night watchman ka matlab pata hai?' And, I said pata nahi meri tareef kar rahe hai ya data laga rahe hai, I said haanji paaji, yes paaji. Aaawaz hi nahi nikalti thi.

Maine kahan paaji but woh mere idhar ball diye jaa rahe the toh main mare jaa raha tha, merko aata hi nahi rokna. Toh he said night watchman meaning samjho pehle. Toh tab merko first time pata chala, pyaar bhi tha, data bhi thi

Kapil Dev on his transition while ending his cricket career and if it was hard for him...

Not really. If you are not a satisfied cricketer, then it becomes very hard. When I achieved what I was planning and after that the day I left cricket I didn't go back to the ground. I said, no. My time has come, I enjoyed and it wasn't hard. Had I not achieved what I was planning, it would have been very disappointing and then you can go back and say your dream is not fulfilled. My dream is to play for the country. Once you stop playing cricket you become a very nagging person.

I said I don't want to go back to cricket. I don't want to pick up the mistakes of these young cricketers. They have to learn themselves. So I prepared myself much before I retired ki the day I stop, I will walk out and not come back

Kapil Dev on his favorite cricket squad!

Everyone, I mean I will go backward. There is a generation before me also who have played cricket. So, every generation, youngsters come out with something brilliant and I think Sourav Ganguly came out with a lot of self-belief and he motivated everybody in that group and then its Dhoni, totally opposite, calm, quiet and then Virat with so much aggression. Everybody has to reach on top.

One thing understanding in cricketing term, reach on top, whichever method you want to take, it’s entirely upto you. You want to take a lift or you want to go by staircase, it’s entirely upto you. But, every generation comes out, they offer somethings. I wouldn't say that one way is the only way. I think the change taking place is for the betterment of Indian cricket and I would say a lot of credit, I would give to the cricket board also.

The way they run the game. We wouldn't have had Virat or Sachin or all these people. Today, the players coming in a group in our time, players used to come individual ability, talent, par excellence but not as a team. Now we can see a team is coming up and cricket has gone into the smaller cities of our country and that is the strength.

On The Captain Kapil Dev sees himself in

You have only one kid. The day you have three kids, I'll ask you which one is better. You will not answer. So, I have love for these cricketers so much to me, all three are just the same. I cannot say he is better or he is not better. I was totally shy. Out of three, they are not shy at all.

I was very aggressive on the field, they are all aggressive on the field. There is nothing different. I would never ever do what Virat Kohli does, the pump and jump. I will never do like Sourav Ganguly taking out his shirt and letting it go and I would not like to be like Dhoni totally calm and not talk to his younger cricketer. I wouldn't be. But, I would like to say good part about Dhoni, he's given space to the player. You learn. And, when Sourav Ganguly was coming out, I think he got a support of the cricket board to give the confidence to the player that you are there, you can't go.

What Virat Kohli has given us is a next generation ki self-belief and your body and sports is the ultimate everything for us and he raised the bar. So, everybody is fantastic but again, why should I pick one? I pick all three and I can see myself little bit in everybody.

Kapil Dev on Tunbridge Wells iconic innings and if it'll be there in the film '83'

That's the only thing I'm looking for. Because, I think, lot of stories comes out when you are in an act of that. You don't know what's happening and how they've come out with the movie or that episode of Zimbabwe inning, I don't know. But, that's what I want to see. Other things, we have seen on television so we know pretty well what's happening.

Kapil Dev on his experience of hitting that 175 at Tunbridge Wells

It was a blank. Absolutely blank. Because, when you are in an act, you don't think too much. And, when that thing happens, then you can say. Middle of the action if I say Sholay, Amitabh Bachchan and Dharamji don't know kya ho raha hai, who toh baad mein pata chalta hai ki picture bann gayi hai aur bahut acha hua hai. Uss time jab aap kaam kar rahe hote hai uss time aap ko nahi pata hota hai.

You are just playing and not thinking too much. And 99% you don't think too much. Because agar aapka mind hi chala gaya hai ki log kya sochenge toh aap khak kheloge. Kya kheloge.

If Kapil Dev had to make a team for himself, who the Kapil 11 will be?

Very difficult. There's a test match is different, there's a one day cricket is different. ODI…if I have to pick, I would say definitely Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, will be there, Rahul Dravid will be there, Yuvraj will be there. Wicket Keeper is only Dhoni. Nobody can touch his spot. You have Zaheer Khan, you have Sreenath.

Recently Bhumrah, I can say. He's done extremely well. Anil Kumble, all-time great spinner and Harbhajan. These are the cricketers who come to my mind very much there.