Yograj Singh blamed Kapil Dev for dropping him from Indian team.
In a startling admission, former Indian fast bowler Yograj Singh, the father of the renowned all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, claimed that he intended to kill Kapil Dev when the captain of India's 1983 ODI World Cup-winning squad dropped him from the team.
Yograj made his debut for Team India in 1980, under the captaincy of Sunil Gavaskar, in an ODI match in Brisbane against Australia. In his less than three-month international career, he participated in one Test and six ODIs for India.
“When Kapil Dev became captain of India, North Zone, and Haryana, he dropped me for no reason. My wife (Yuvi’s mother) wanted me to ask Kapil questions. I told her that I would teach this bloody man a lesson. I took my pistol out and went to Kapil’s house in Sector 9. He came out with his mother. I abused him a dozen times. I told him, Because of you, I have lost a friend, and what you have done, you will pay for it,” Yograj said on Unfiltered by Samdish.
“I told him, ‘I want to put a bullet through your head, but I am not doing it because you have a very pious mother, who is standing here.’ That was the moment I decided I would not play cricket; Yuvi will play,” he added.
Yograj Singh, who is also an acclaimed actor in Punjabi and Hindi movies, has revealed that he has not talked to Kapil Dev in all these years.
“In 2011, when India won the World Cup, there was only one guy who was crying, and it was Kapil Dev. I did send him a paper cutting that my son did better than you in the World Cup," he added.
Yograj also made shocking allegations against late India captain and spinner Bishan Singh Bedi and said he plotted against him.
“These guys, including Bishan Singh Bedi, they plotted against me. I never forgave Bishan Singh Bedi. The man died on his bed. When I was dropped, I spoke to Ravindra Chadha, one of the selectors. He told me that Bishan Singh Bedi (the chief selector) didn’t want to pick me because they thought I was Sunil Gavaskar’s man and because I was playing cricket in Mumbai. I was very close to Gavaskar," he added
Yograj Singh picked 5 wickets in his 7 international games. He picked 66 wickets in 30 FC matches and 14 wickets in 13 List-A matches in his cricketing career.