Kapil Dev along with others during the special screening of 83 at IT Park on Tuesday. (Express photo by Jasbir Malhi)It was a lesson regarding cricket as well as life for the 150-odd Chandigarh cricketers as they watched movie ‘83’ depicting India’s title triumph in the 1983 Cricket World Cup along with legendary Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev, captain of the winning Indian team of the World Cup played in England.
Dev, who was in Chandigarh on Tuesday, watched the movie along with junior and senior cricketers in a special screening of the movie organised by UTCA and shared his tips with the cricketers.
“Each one of us has to make his/her destiny on their own. You have to think that only you can create your destiny. Discipline, hard work and sincerity can help you create your own destiny and you don’t have to lie to yourself about your passion. Whatever the passion is, you have to become so passionate that your parents don’t have to push you to do that thing. That’s the secret of success in any field, be it cricket or life,” said the former Indian captain.
With the movie depicting India’s historic title triumph in the Cricket World Cup in England in 1983, Dev was cheered by the young cricketers on his arrival in the movie hall. As the youngsters as well as their parents and coaches watched the movie, Dev also took some time to answer their questions and came up with his advice. A young Dev would train under coach D P Azad at the Sector 16 Stadium and he remembered his days of training too.
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Suggesting the youngsters not to copy anybody, Dev talked about becoming their own self in their journey to achieve success. “Apart from dedication and discipline, you need to be passionate as well as open to ideas. You don’t have to copy anybody and understand that duplicates cannot be better than the original. You have to create your own identity and whatever you want to do, be it cricket or drawing or singing, you have to create your own path,” said Dev.
On being asked about how to remain calm in tough situations, Dev shared his tips too. “Calmness coupled with hard work and thinking alertness will always bring better results. In cricket, you have to think and be alert in a way that you remember an opponent batsman’s stance forever and know what his mistakes are and where he commits mistakes. That’s my mantra for you all,” concluded Dev.