1983 Cricket World Cup winning captain, Kapil Dev was present at the unveiling of the Indian Kabaddi team’s jersey on Tuesday. The 2016 Kabaddi World cup will begin from October 7 in Ahmedabad and captain, Anup Kumar’s side will be firm favourites to win the tournament.
Kapil Dev who guided an unfancied Indian side to victory in 1983 spoke to the Indian Kabaddi team about handling pressure during crunch situations, “I think the players don’t feel that pressure that much because they’re so involved in the game. If they think about what the world is thinking, they can never play well”, he said.
The Indian cricketing legend had some words of advice for captain cool Anup Kumar as well- “When the team is doing well, let them enjoy the moment and you should take the back seat. Every captain has different philosophies. Some believe in talking like Virat Kohli who is very aggressive. But look at Dhoni, he is very calm. You must be yourself as a captain”, was his opinion.
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As a sport, Kabaddi has never experienced such widespread interest than it is experiencing now. The bright lights dawn upon the players, every time they take to the mat. On a cumulative basis, the Pro Kabaddi league has shown a growth of 51% over the last four seasons.
But Kapil Dev believes that as a captain, Anup Kumar must tread the fine balance when it comes to handling the media, “Do not get scared to talk. Players don’t like to talk. I’ve left cricket since a long time so I speak a lot now. But the captain has to talk. A captain can’t remain silent at the back. He has to talk to the media, take the game forward and talk to the people” he said.
Kapil believes if Anup has taken the responsibility of a captain then he must not be embarrassed to talk what’s on his mind. But he also doesn’t wish that Anup talks a lot. Both Kapil Dev and Anup Kumar are from Haryana. “People from Haryana have a wicked sense of humour. So at times we feel scared that what we say might be taken in the wrong context”, he concluded.
It will be interesting to see how captain cool Anup guides this stellar Indian side. A large proportion of the players come into this tournament on the back of some great performances for their respective sides in the Pro Kabaddi league. The U Mumba captain will be keen to ensure that complacency doesn’t kick in at any point during the fifteen-day tournament.
