Kabaddi World Cup: Question on Pakistan riles Kapil Dev

In the wake of Uri terror attack, former Indian cricket team captain Kapil Dev asked if it was 'necessary to raise the question (on Pakistan's absence) at this point in time'.

Published : Sep 20, 2016 16:56 IST , Mumbai

Former cricketer Kapil Dev shares a word with Indian kabaddi team captain Anup Kumar.
Former cricketer Kapil Dev shares a word with Indian kabaddi team captain Anup Kumar.
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Former cricketer Kapil Dev shares a word with Indian kabaddi team captain Anup Kumar.

A question on Pakistan got Kapil Dev quite riled and upset at the fag end of a 2016 Kabaddi World Cup press conference at the Ball Room of the Taj Mahal Hotel here on Tuesday.

The former India captain, who was the chief guest, said nice things about Indian sport, kabaddi in particular, unveiled the team jersey for the World Cup, presented it to each and every player, and advised them to enjoy playing the game without worrying about winning and losing.

It was a pleasant looking Kapil Dev for almost 45 minutes until a television reporter popped the question on Pakistan’s absence from the World Cup. The question was not even directed at him, but to one of the four on the stage; Dr. (Mrs) Mridul Bhadauria (President, Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India), Balwan Singh (National coach), K.Baskaran (coach) and Anup Kumar (captain).

But even before one among the four would have mulled over for an answer, Kapil, sitting in the front row, rose to his feet in a jiffy, looked at the television reporter and intervened asking: "Is it necessary to raise this question at this point in time", making an oblique reference to Uri terror attack.

Even as the television reporter harped on the question saying that it was a sports related, Kapil rationalised his point of view saying: `` There are certain decisions best taken by the Government. If the Government tells us to jump into the well, we will.’’

Thereafter, in the course of a short one-to-one with Sportstar , Kapil said: "Sabko khelna hai (everybody wants to play), but one has to look at the prevailing sentiments."

With Kapil getting into the picture, the four on the stage appeared quite relieved, especially after the majority of those present at the press conference responded to Kapil’s point with a thunderous applause.

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