Sunil Gavaskar denies role in dropping Kapil Dev for 1984 England Test

Controversies have always been a major part of Indian cricket and recently the ghost of the most infamous controversy of Indian cricket surrounding two former greats, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, was exorcised when Sunil Gavaskar clarified his stance in the saga. It was believed that then Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar had played a key role in dropping Kapil Dev for the fourth Test against England at the Eden Gardens in December 1984 after the all-rounder got dismissed playing an outrageous stroke on Day Five in the third Test at the Kotla when India were fighting to save the Test. India lost that Test in Delhi and the result propelled England to a memorable series win in India. It was reported that Gavaskar was utterly unhappy with Kapil’s approach and punished him for his “careless attitude” by dropping him for the next Test in Kolkata.

However, the ‘liitle master’ has tried to come clean on the whole matter, "Firstly, the captain of the Indian cricket team has never had and even today has no vote in the selection committee meetings. He is just a co-opted member of the committee. To, therefore, state that I dropped Kapil Dev is totally wrong," reported the Times of India.

Dropping Kapil was not the most popular decision

The decision to drop Kapil received a lot of backlash as the boisterous Eden Gardens crowd greeted Gavaskar to “No Kapil, no Test” chants. However, the Indian batting legend pointed out that the decision to drop Kapil was taken before he had joined the meeting.

The former Indian opener also referred to a column written by late Hanumant Singh, who was a selector then. Singh had written in his column that Gavaskar was not behind the idea to drop Kapil. Gavaskar clearly stated, "No captain is foolish enough to suggest dropping his best player and match-winner from the team and whatever else I may be, I am not foolish to do that.”

The cricketer-turned-commentator also made a shocking claim when he said that he could soon reveal the name of the selector who didn’t want Kapil in the side. Giving rise to a lot of speculations, Gavaskar also disclosed, “At some stage in the future, I may reveal the name of the selector who not only wanted Kapil dropped but also wanted his match fee suspended."

The stories of a possible rift between Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar emerged after the incident and after so many years someone really spoke up about it. It will be interesting to know the name of the selector who was behind the all-rounder’s sudden exclusion from the Indian side in that Test match at the Eden Gardens.