Speculations of rift between myself and Kapil Dev became unstoppable, says Sunil Gavaskar
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Sunil Gavaskar has publicly spoken about his speculated rift with Kapil Dev in the past, stating that at one point of time the media reports became 'unstoppable'. He also drew comparison between his speculated rift with Dev to the ongoing speculated Virat Kohli - Rohit Sharma one.
In this day and age of social media, no player or personality is safe from media speculations, and once let go, the rumors start spreading like wildfire. Caught in the crossfire currently is Indian skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma, with extensive media reports suggesting that the duo have had a fallout. The former has publicly denied any estrangement between the pair, but to no avail, it seems, as the rumors seem to be never-ending. Â
Media accusations and rumors hardly ever stop circulating, and none so more than former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar knows it better. Gavaskar was speculated to have had a fallout with then skipper Kapil Dev back in the 80s, and the 70-year-old has now stated how such rumors can be unstoppable, claiming that people will always make a big deal out of small incidents.
"Both of us (Gavaskar and Dev) were taken aback, but try as much as we did to deny it, the story got legs so fast that it became unstoppable! Even today there are many who would like to believe that there was a fall out between us," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
Recalling the incident further, the former skipper said how the only misunderstanding between them happened during a match against Pakistan in 1979 when Gavaskar was furious at Dev for refusing an easy single the ball before which he eventually got out.Â
"The one time that I had told Kapil off was in the Chennai Test match against Pakistan in 1979 when I got out. There was a run off the previous delivery, but Kapil at the non-striker’s end declined it as he wasn’t sure whether the ball had been played to the left of backward point. Non-strikers generally are wary when the ball goes there or towards square-leg, so Kapil was right in refusing the single," he said, recalling the incident.Â
"Nothing would have happened if I hadn’t got out to the next ball! Every batsman in a similar situation will feel that he had got out only because of the run declined! And will blame the non-striker for his dismissal, even if he had got out to a pearl of a delivery," he further explained.
However, he then went on to clarify that it happened only due to frustration in the heat of the moment, revealing that he apologized to Dev on the very same evening while praising the latter for his all-round contributions which helped India win the match.Â
"I admonished him for refusing the single, but, to his credit, Kapil didn’t say a word. He just resumed and took it out on the hapless Pakistani bowlers with a brilliant knock of 84! Not only that, in the second innings he swung the ball both ways with pace and destroyed the strong Pakistani batting line-up, leaving us only 60-odd to chase to win the match and with it the series," the former skipper said.
"That’s the only time there was a hard word between us and I apologised to him in the evening itself, which he graciously accepted," he revealed.
Finally, Gavaskar drew comparisons between his "speculated" rift with Dev and the ongoing speculations of a rift between Kohli and Rohit, saying that rumors of a rift between the duo will continue to spread for the next 20 years, even if the pair stay professional on the field and win matches for their country.
"Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are professionals and they will put their heads down and go out to win matches for India but the story won’t stop even 20 years later," Gavaskar signed off.
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