11 June,2026 02:19 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Syed Kirmani (Pic: X/@ICC)
Former Team India cricketer Syed Kirmani revealed that ahead of the famous 1983 World Cup, he was in contention to be appointed as Team India's captain along with Dilip Vengsarkar.
While speaking to PTI, he said, "There was a question during the 1983 tour of the West Indies before the World Cup. At that time, there was a move before they appointed Kapil Dev as the captain. There was a move between me and Vengsarkar".
He then added that, considering his role as wicket-keeper, the management did not want to put additional burden on him and hence named Kapil as the Indian skipper.
"This is the inside stuff which I heard. Should we make Vengsarkar the captain or Syed Kirmani? So, in this tussle, probably, they said, a wicket-keeper, why burden him?," revealed Kirmani.
Further, he feels that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should take the initiative to celebrate the historic triumph every year. He also added that the 1983 World Cup triumph laid the foundation for the BCCI, following which the incumbent cricketers are enjoying the benefits.
"It should be the BCCI who should come forward in recognizing the '83 World Cup players to celebrate every year on 25th June, which laid a huge foundation for the Board as well as the cricketers who are now enjoying the benefits of what they got after the '83 World Cup," said the former cricketer.
"This should be remembered. Everybody remembers, everybody will remember 1983. It is like, you know, having the first love in everybody's life. The first love can never be forgotten," added the veteran of 88 Test matches.
Currently, the Shubman Gill-led "Men in Blue" are set to lock horns with Afghanistan in the three-match ODI series.
The first game between both teams will be played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala.
The second ODI match between the teams will be played on June 17 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow, followed by the third game on June 20 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul (WK), Kuldeep Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (WK), Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill (C), Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Harsh Dubey, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav.
Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah, Fareed Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Ikram Alikhil (WK), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Abdul Rasooli, Nangeyalia Kahrote, Qais Ahmad, Ziaur Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Sediqullah Atal, Bilal Sami, Mohammad Saleem, Allah Ghazanfar, Bashir Ahmad.
(With PTI Inputs)
