Batting great Sunil Gavaskar was at his candid best on Tuesday as he shared the Agenda Aaj Tak 2018 stage with former India teammate and captain of 1983 World Cup-winning team, Kapil Dev in New Delhi.
Sunil Gavaskar revealed that he was asked to point out some differences between the India team that won its maiden World Cup in 1983 and MS Dhoni’s team that lifted the coveted trophy 28 years later during a felicitation ceremony a few years ago.
Sunil Gavaskar added he had no hesitation in letting the audience know that he believed the 1983 batch was more handsome than the 2011 batch. Gavaskar tried to instantiate his claim, saying many of the players from Kapil Dev’s team went on to become film stars and that not many from Dhoni’s team have been able to try their hand at movies.
“I was asked at a program, what was the difference between the team that won the World Cup in 1983 and the one in 2011. he 1983 team was more handsome than the 2011 World Cup-winning team,” Gavaskar told Aaj Tak, sending the audience into frenzy with his tongue-in-cheek comment.
“Let’s take a look through the batting order. Krishnamachari Srikanth has worked in Tamil movies, I have done Marathi and Hindi films. Mohinder Amarnath had got offers from Punjabi films. So did Yashpal Singh and Kapil Dev. Syed Kirmani had done a villain role. Ravi Shastri and Dilip Vengsarkar sat out.
“Tell me who has done films from the 2011 World Cup? When Yuvraj Singh was a kid, he had acted alongside his father.
“See, the 1983 team was full of film stars.”
Revealing that he has created a WhatsApp group to keep in touch with his former teammates, Gavaskar also insisted that he is praying to the Almighty to keep the members of the 1983 World Cup-winning team healthy so that they can celebrate the Golden Jubilee – the 50th anniversary of the historic triumph.
Sunil Gavaskar also said Virat Kohli’s team have it in them to lift the World Cup trophy in 2019.
“They have the ability to win the 2019 World Cup. The team has a good combination. We have seen how well they have been performing in the ODI format. They have the ability to win the World Cup in 2019,” Gavaskar said.
Meanwhile, Kapil, whose biopic is under production, said he will run shirtless if India win the World Cup next year. Notably, Kohli had said in an interview to India Today he would run down Oxford Street if India won the World Cup in England in 2019.
“I will run shirtless if India win the World Cup. Just like Kohli said that he will run shirtless if India win, I will too. I can do anything for my country,” Kapil said.
[“source-indiatoday”]
