Former India all-rounder and 1983 World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, recalled his fearful experience playing under the captaincy of ex-spinner S Venkataraghavan.
Kapil first walked into the team on that 1978 tour of Pakistan under Bishan Singh Bedi's captaincy and played a lot with Sunil Gavaskar at the helm through his 16-year-long career. But it is Venkataraghavan, says the then youngster, who gave him a real hard time as a player.
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Having played four Tests and three ODIs under Venkataraghavan, who later went on to become an umpire, Kapil said he found his skipper angry over different things.
"In England, the evening break during a Test match is called a Tea break. Venkataraghavan always used to argue and fought saying why only tea break? It should be tea and coffee break. So he was like that," said Kapil in an interview with former India opener WV Raman for 'Inside Out' show on YouTube.
“I was very scared of him. Firstly he only used to speak in English and secondly we all know his anger. Even when he was an umpire he used to give not out in a way as if he was scolding the bowler."
"When I went to England in 79, he was captain, I used to find a place where he can’t see me. We had Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, so he couldn’t really say much to them. And naturally, whenever he saw me, he used to fire up. I used to have breakfast sitting in one corner because I was a heavy eater and he would be like ‘he’s always eating'."
Even when the roles were reversed, Venkataraghavan used to question captain Kapil's decision with great authority. Kapil narrated an incident from the 1983 Barbados Test to further explain his relationship and experience with the man.
“I will tell you an incident when we were playing a Test in Barbados. That wicket was bit bouncy so fast bowlers were bowling more and the first spinner I introduced was Ravi Shastri. Venky was talking from the slips."
"He said ‘Kapil’. I said ‘Yes Venky!’ By that time I had started to call him Venky but before that it was ‘sir’ only. He said ‘Did I say I don’t want to bowl?’ I didn’t understand who was the captain, he or me. I said ‘Yes Venky your time will come’. His nature was so lovable. He used to scold despite me being the captain."
A member of the famous spin quartet that played for India in the 60s and 70s, Venkataraghavan played 57 Tests and took 156 wickets before retiring in 1983.
