When Kapil Dev asked Dawood Ibrahim to leave the Indian dressing room

In 1986, before an India-Pakistan Champions Trophy match in Sharjah, Indian captain Kapil Dev had asked India's most wanted criminal, Dawood Ibrahim to get out of the Indian dressing room. Dawood had offered Toyota cars to every Indian player if they were to beat Pakistan in the match that was to be held the following day.

However, Kapil did admit to not knowing who the person was at the time and asked Dawood to leave the room as people other than the players and the staff were not allowed to enter the dressing room.

“Yes, I remember a gentleman walking into our dressing room in a game in Sharjah and wanting to talk to the players. But I asked him to leave the dressing room immediately as outsiders were not allowed.

“He listened to me and then walked out of the dressing room without saying anything. Later, someone told me he was a smuggler from Bombay and his name was Dawood Ibrahim. Beyond that nothing happened,” Kapil told India Today in an interview in 2013.

Dilip Vengsarkar's version included the part about Dawood offering cars to all Indian players after beating Pakistan. Kapil, however, did not know about Toyota cars beign offered.

“Dawood had said: 'If you guys win the tournament, I will give all of you a Toyota car each. The offer was rejected by the team,” Vengsarkar had said at a function in Jalgaon.

“No such offer came to my knowledge then. If Dilip is saying it now, he would know more than me,” Kapil said on having been asked about the cars.

Former BCCI Secretary, Jaywant Lele mentioned about the incident in his book ‘I Was There – Memoirs of a Cricket Administrator’. He reveals how manager Dyaneshwar Agashe and he were not aware of who the man who came into the dressing room was.

“If the Indian team becomes champion here, I shall present a Toyota car to each team member, including officials, at their doorsteps in India,” Lele's book quoted Dawood.

India, however went onto lose the tournament as Australia won it on having the best net run rate. Australia, England and India all had same points. According to Lele's book, the Indian players were not in tears, but Dawood was.

Dawood is the alleged mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai blasts and gained notoreity on a higher level after that incident and could explain why none of the players or staff were able to recognise who the person who came into the dressing room was.