Kapil calls for revival of Indo-Pak duels in UAE

“I’d like to see that cricket should come back to this part of the world. I spent my beautiful time here, playing cricket in Sharjah, as well as Dubai or Abu Dhabi,” said Dev, who was guest of honour at the 12^th Shyam Bhatia annual cricket awards in Dubai on Monday evening.

Sharjah holds the record for staging the most number of one-day internationals and was a popular venue between 1984 and 2003 with tri-series tournaments being held regularly.

But hit by unfounded allegations of match-fixing and India’s refusal to play in the desert venue, cricket came to a standstill in Sharjah which staged its 200^th one-day international match last year.

However, UAE is the only non-Test playing nation to hold Test matches with Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi and Dubai Sports City being the latest venues.

“We lost most of the matches in that time and Pakistan won. That’s true and one shouldn’t forget that they were the better team,” recalled the former Indian skipper.

“But, today, I want to say in the same breath that India played far better than anybody and they deserved to win the World Cup,” said Dev congratulating Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men in blue for emulating his monumental feat of leading India to their maiden World Cup triumph in 1983.

However, he magnanimously gave credit to both Sri Lanka and Pakistan for making it to the four of the World Cup.

“I will not take any credit though away from Sri Lanka, with the way they’ve come along in the last 20 to 25 years and they’ve kept continuously playing their cricket so well. Hats off to Sri Lanka,” said Dev.

The ‘Haryana Hurricane’ also heaped praise on arch rivals Pakistan for coming close despite a trouble build-up to the event.

“Pakistan, in spite of going through such a rough time in their country, played this World Cup better than anybody else. They didn’t win the World Cup, but they left the impression on the entire world that they have ability that no other team has,” he said.

Pakistan emerged as a front runner for the title before being beaten by eventual champions India in a highly charged semifinal encounter in Mohali.

“It’s unfortunate that only one team won, but I want to give credit to the Pakistan team in the same manner because, with the way they played while going through a rough time, they still showed there is no shortage of talent in their team.”

Dev also lavished praise on ardent cricket fan and philanthropist Shyam Bhatia of Alam Steel for his passion for the sport.

“If we don’t have people like Shyam, this game will die. We need fans like him, who can keep up the game,” he said.

“There are people like me, who - if you come to my home - you will not find one picture or anything about cricket because I feel that was my dream, which I’ve fulfilled, and that’s it. But, when I see this side of people - who love this game and made it so big and popular - it’s unbelievable,” said Dev referring to the Cricket Museum of Bhatia.

“You need passion; I had a passion to play the game. Some people have a passion to keep the game and show it to the next generation. Hats off to you. I admire people who have passion to succeed in any aspect of life. Sometimes, money cannot buy everything, but then passion can. That’s what we look for in people,” he said.

Dev felt the authorities governing the sport should take a cue from Bhatia. “I think the ICC (International Cricket Council), the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the Pakistan Cricket Board and Sri Lanka Cricket should learn something from you. They should have a museum like this, rather than you having one,” he said.

Bhatia, who has written a book on cricket, revealed that he is working on his next project called ‘Cricket for Care’.

“As always, my dream again is that I want to give children and youngsters, who cannot afford to play this game, something to play. Cricket is a wonderful, team game; it teaches you so much in life. At the moment, we are distributing cricket kits around the world, including Afghanistan and South Africa and even non-cricket playing countries like Indonesia and Thailand,” said Bhatia who gave away Dh26,000 in cash to outstanding performers in an event organised by the Dubai Cricket Council (DCC).

Shruti Pathak Pandey, who received a special award for being the best woman cricketer of the UAE, said this award should serve as motivation for other youngsters to follow in her footsteps.

“What I love about the game is team spirit. You have to play for team and country,” said Pandey who has been an outstanding performer for UAE in the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) Twenty20 Women’s Championships.

“I’m enjoying and loving it,” said Pandey, 26, a mother of a three and half year-old daughter.

India’s batting icon Sachin Tendulkar is not surprisingly her favourite cricketer but her inspiration comes from within. “When I went to Kuwait, my baby was crying ‘mama please don’t go’. If I leave my child and go, I have to perform and have to do well,” said the UAE captain who was the second highest scorer in the tournament making 136 runs in five matches and also bagged four wickets.

Chairman of DCC Abdul Rahman Falaknaz in his address nostalgically recalled the exploits of Kapil Dev for almost singlehandedly leading India to triumph in the 1983 World Cup, in particular his unbeaten knock of 175 against Zimbabwe when they were tottering at 17 for five and the catch he took to dismiss West Indian great Vivian Richards in the final.

DCC honorary secretary Mohammed Lokhandhwala while giving a detailed biography of Dev who held the world record for the highest number of wickets at one time, reminded the audience that India had just one one-day international victory before the 1983 World Cup.

Vice-Chairman of DCC Mohammed Redha Abbas was also present at the high-profile awards ceremony.

Veteran cricket administrator Mazhar Khan was given a special award in recognition of the Lifetime Achievement Award given by ICC. Mementos were given to officials from Abu Dhabi CC (Wajahat Hussain), Ajman CC (Shaji Shahtaj Ul Mulk), Sharjah CC (Mazhar Khan) and Dubai CC (Mohamed Lokandhwala) while media personnel were also recognized for their contribution to the sport.

Best Umpire: Shahbaz Ahmed (Abu Dhabi CC), Razzak Shah (Ajman CC), Bahadur Ali Khan (Dubai CC), Arshad Ansari (Sharjah CC)

Best woman cricketer of the UAE: Shruti Pathak Pandey

Best Bowler - Mohamed Mashood (Nucaf Tellicherry)

Best Batsman - Ayub Inayat (Ibsons)

Best All-rounder – Zaheer Baig (Nissan)

Best Batsman – Abdul Rahman (ECB Blues)

Best Bowler – Shadeep Silva (New Medical Centre)

Best All-rounder – Nasir Aziz (Eurocon and Yogi Group)

Abu Dhabi CC - Bikramjeet Singh (Sherwood Academy)

Sharjah CC – Siddarth Sekhar (Delhi Private School)

Dubai CC – Shorye Chopra (Modern High School)