India’s 1983 World Cup triumph is written in golden letters and so is the name of the team leader — Kapil Dev. At a media interaction here on Wednesday, the legend, in recognition of another champion, expressed his desire for a proper on-field farewell for the just retired Yuvraj Singh.
Yuvraj, in his farewell press conference, had said that the BCCI had offered him a farewell match if he failed the yo-yo test. Yuvraj not only cleared the test but emphasised that his performance was to be the criteria for selection.
When asked, Kapil said, “I think I would love to see a player like him getting a farewell in the ground, not just saying I’m retired.”
In his farewell message to Yuvraj, the former India captain said, “Yuvraj will be in my all-time XI whenever I sit down to make my team, [for] the way he played his cricket.
“The way he is looked up to, what he has gone through in life (beating cancer). I wish him even better than what he achieved on the cricket field. We need more players like him.”
Kapil also revealed that he was working on his all time world XI which was a mammoth task. “I don’t want to be dropping any legend of the game.”
Kapil was present at the launch of fantasy gaming platform Apne 11. He said playing outdoors should be the priority for everyone and joked that he ends losing when playing fantasy cricket with his grandchildren.
At the event, Roland Landers (CEO, All India Gaming Federation) quoted an interesting piece of statistics. “The Indian market is the fastest-growing fantasy sports market in the world, the market is projected to touch $5 billion in the next two years.”