A few days back Kapil Dev joined twitter and started promoting "Ek Nayi League" with some videos, just as the one given above. He talks to some famous celebrities and goes onto hint about this new league which if someone played with heart, they were going to lose. Is it going to be a talk show? Or will it be a game-based programme? Some people have even predicted it to be some dance-based reality show in which Kapil Dev would be one of the judges (though I hardly agree with their prediction). I still have no idea what it is going to be but like others I too have made some guesses. Kapil Dev is also seen pointing towards his head (meaning brains), so in all probability, this show is going to be some game show in which one would be required to use his brain more than playing it only with his heart.
Nothing has been disclosed about this league, what it is all about. The theme, the format, everything is still being kept under wraps, may be to build a buzz (and they have indeed succeeded in doing that because like me, many others are also excited and looking forward to this new league). Moreover when a legend like Kapil Dev talks about something (read "the Nayi League"), it must be something truly exceptional. Because the man himself was an exceptional cricketer.
India has always had a bevy of cricket superstars but Kapil Dev was unarguably the first one to capture the nation's imagination after captaining the side to its first cricket world cup title back in 1983. No one had given his team a chance, not even his own countrymen (and understandably so, with their poor performances in the matches that preceded the world cup) and yet the way he galvanised his team and led them from the front, it was nothing short of inspiring. Kapil Dev holding the Prudential Cup on the balcony of Lords cricket ground still remains one of the most loved memories on the minds of an Indian cricket fan. He belonged to an era when cricketers didn't earn much money. Nor were there any huge endorsement deals like cricketers get these days. Yet he never bothered about the money or the fame, he always played his game with passion and heart and played as hard as anyone would have, for his country. He was a match winner in his own right. I have always admired his all-round cricketing abilities, because not just with the ball but he could also change the course of a match singlehandedly through his swashbuckling batting. Not without good reason is he considered to be one of the greatest all rounders in the history of the game. He was also a tremendous athlete and remained fit all through his cricketing career.
It's no mean feat to capture more than 400 wickets in Test matches and moreso when the Indian pitches hardly ever suited fast bowling. Though he was not really a tearaway fast bowler but he was undoubtedly a very skilled and street-smart medium pace bowler who could trouble even the best of batsmen with his outswingers and cutters. He was dead accurate too. In fact most of the Indian cricketers who took up fast bowling were inspired by Kapil Dev.
Thus even though he has mostly kept a low profile after he retired some two decades back, but he is still admired and remains one of the most loved cricketers not just in India but also around the world. So when he says something, everyone sit up and take note.
This new league is going to be unveiled on 7th of May (i.e. today) and if my guess is right (that this league would be a game show on TV), then Kapil Dev would be making his debut as a TV host! What could be more exciting than watching Kapil Dev as the host on a TV show?
(This has been written for "Ek Nayi League". Visit their website www.eknayileague.com to know more about them)
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