The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

SPORTS

Kapil Dev Nikhanj — the legend lives on
M.S. Unnikrishnan

Kapil Dev
Haryana hurricane

New Delhi, February 5
Kapil Dev Nikhanj has donned many a hat on his illustrious head, the prominent one, of course, being the 1983 World Cup crown. Kapil’s Devils had scripted a new chapter in the World Cup when they demolished the invincible myth of the West Indians to fill India’s cup of glory. A cricketer of considerable magnetism and talent, a captain who always led from the front, world record holder, coach, model, actor, businessman, sports promoter...well, Kapil Dev Nikhanj has seen it all, and done it all.

Though the match-fixing scandal briefly put him under a cloud, the exoneration by the Central Bureau of Investigation restored Kapil’s honour, enabling him to get back into his stride.

Kapil’s nomination as the “Wisden Cricketer of Century” was a well-deserved recognition as he had also been named the Wisden International Cricketer of the Year in 1983.

Kapil’s world had crashed around him when his name figured in the match-fixing scandal. After coming out of the ordeal, Kapil has been passionately propagating the need to have a clean sports set up, and his latest avatar as the chairman of the Hero Indian Sports Academy is another plume in his cap.

“I am extremely eager to ignite the passion of millions of Indians with the help of all sports heroes of our nation through the Hero Indian Sports Academy”, Kapil noted at the launch of the academy.

Kapil is in illustrious company here, as sportspersons from various disciplines will be helping him out in unearthing and nurturing talent. It was Kapil of a different vintage who shared the dais with legendary hurdler Edwin Moses, the Olympic champion from the United States of America, at the academy launch. Kapil is the only Asian founder member of the Laureus World Sports Academy.

Kapil Dev’s dynamic cricket career spanned a glorious 17 years. It was a remarkable feat for a fast bowler to survive in the rough and tumble world of international cricket for so long. But Kapil played his cricket with elan, and was the hero of many a memorable victory notched up by India, least of them being his marathon knock against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup—the jewel in India’s crown..

A skilful medium pace bowler, a hard-hitting middle order batsman, a brilliant fielder and an intuitive captain, Kapil Dev was a complete cricketer, well almost.

DST clinch Teri Table Tennis title
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 5
DST defeated GAIL 3-1 to annex the fifth Teri Table Tennis Tournament title at the India Habitat Centre. DST had beaten HCL 3-1 in the semi-final while GAIL got the better of AAI 3-1.

Earlier, in the Group A fifth round matches, DDA beat HCL 3-2,IHC beat Tri 3-0 and DST beat AAI 3-0. In Group B, NCRPW got walkover from NHB, GAIL beat HCL 3-1 and SRF beat Teri 3-1.

In the quarter-finals, DST beat Teri 3-0, AAI beat SRF 3-0, GAIL beat DDA 3-2 and HCL (GGN) defeated HCL (Noida) 3-0. Former India ranked player and Delhi State champion Himansh P Kala gave away the prizes.

Cricket feast at Superstars
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 5
Come the World Cup Cricket Championship, anyone and everyone is out to make a killing. The latest to join the World Cup cricket fever bandwagon is Superstars in Noida, which will “don a cricket stadium look” with flags of the participating teams flying on the roof, to entertain diners. A giant screen at Superstars will beam the World Cup matches “live”. Superstars have devised many innovative dishes and beverages to cash in on the cricket frenzy and boost its sales.

All about World Cup

A handbook on World Cup cricket — All About World Cup Cricket — has been launched by Egmont Imagination, a children’s entertainment company, to take the readers down the Cup memory lane, with a particular reference to World Cup 1983, wrested by Kapil’s Devils. The book contains articles by many eminent players and umpires.

Ramjas enter last four
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 5
An unbeaten 85 by Rohit Sharma and half century by Suhaib Bavari helped Ramjas School, Anand Parvat No 2, defeat Ganga School by 34 runs and entered the semi-final of the sixth R R Gymkhana R P Jain Inter-School Under-15 Cricket Tournament at the Ganga School ground.

Salwan Public School defeated St Marks School, Janakpuri by 81 runs at the Salwan school ground.

Scores: Ramjas School No 2: 206 for 4 in 40 overs (Rohit Sharma 85 n o, Suhaib Bavari 56, Virender Kumar 3 for 28).

Ganga School: 172 all out in 34.2 overs (Deepak Shaukeen 60, Kunal Kumar 38, Ashish Maheshwari 3 for 15).

Salwan School: 166 for 9 in 35 overs (Sachin Adhikari 56, Tushar Dhiman 35 n o, Abhishek Sharma 3 for 9, Rishab Dua 3 for 15).

St Marks School: 85 all out in 32.2 overs (Dhruv Satya 32, Chetan Sharma 5 for 18, Karan Ishar 2 for 23, Saurabh Chauhan 2 for 16).

Darling defeat Pusa Youngsters
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 5
Darling Club defeated Pusa Youngsters by 26 runs in a DDCA A-I Division match at the Yamuna Sports Complex I ground.

Scores: Darling: 204 for 8 in 40 overs (Manjeet Rajput 69, Rajesh Dua 22 n o, Lalit Anand 2 for 28).

Pusa Youngsters: 178 all out in 37.5 overs (Rashid Mohd 39, Rajesh Brown 36, Lalit Anand 31, Rajesh Dua 3 for 35, Manjeet Rajput 5 for 25).

Life Insurance Corporation defeated Sonnet Club by two wickets in a B Division match at Kotla II ground.

Scores: Sonnex Club: 293 for 9 in 40 overs (Mukesh Arora 48, Prateek Suneja 43, Harsh Kumar 37, C K Bajaj 4 for 57, P K Soni 2 for 51).

LIC: 294 for 8 in 39.2 overs (Gajender Kumar 67, Raghubir Singh 37, Rajesh Kumar 91, Fazil Ahmad 3 for 34, Mukesh Arora 2 for 30).

Vipul Sarees defeated Delhi Telecom by 67 runs in a B division match at the Kotla ground.

Scores: Vipul Sarees: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Akash Kumar 40, Ayush Mohan 31, Praveen Dabas 31, Yashpal Saini 2 for 30, Vineet Kapoor 2 for 34).

Delhi Telecom: 134 for 9 in 20 overs (Rakesh Kumar 25, Bharat Rana 3 for 20, Vikas Sharma 2 for 16, Vikas Rathi 2 for 26).

Patel Nagar Gymkhana beat Mayapuri by one wicket in an A-I Division match at the Ramjas Sports Complex.

Scores: Mayapuri Club: 137 for 7 in 20 overs (Jaspreet Singh Bedi 50, Kuldeep Singh 32, Nitin Madan 2 for 32).

Patel Nagar Gymkhana: 139 for 9 in 20 overs (Amardeep Singh 44, Sandeep Dahiya 44, Kuldeep Singh 3 for 24, Arun Rawat 2 for 19, Neeraj Sehgal 2 for 22).

Rajdhani Sports Tourney

New Delhi, February 5
The third Rajdhani Sports Trophy Cricket Tournament will be held at the Kalindi College ground from February 8. Fourteen teams will participate in the tournament. The winners will be richer by Rs 31,000 while the runners-up will pocket Rs 21,000.

Bright Club will take on Daryaganj Gymkhana in the opening match. Delhi and District Cricket Association secretary Sunil Khanna will inaugurate the tournament. OSR

HDFC outgun Canon

New Delhi, February 5
HDFC Bank defeated Canon India by 96 runs in a league match of the tenth Teri Cup Cricket Tournament at the Teri Oval.

Scores: HDFC Bank: 173 for 3 in 25 overs (Girish Sharma 62 n o, 6x4, 63b; Sant Ram 56, 6x4, 57b; Deepak Sharma 30 n o, 3x4, 19b).

Canon India: 77 all out in 21.2 overs (Sandeep Minocha 21, 1x4, 47b; Nirmal Bansal 2 for 18, Girish Sharma 1 for 20, Harsh Gupta 2 for 8). OSR