“Usne aisa shot mara, I was like OH!”: Kapil Dev recalled his first incident of bowling to young Sachin Tendulkar in the nets

Kapil Dev is certainly the most prolific all-rounder to play cricket for the Indian cricket team. The all-rounder from Haryana led the Indian team to the 1983 World Cup in England. Dev is the first all-rounder in the history of Test cricket to score 5,000 runs and scalp 400 wickets with the ball.

Dev’s career was full of highs and lows, and he was often in the news for his rift with Sunil Gavaskar. Although Dev said that both of them shared mutual respect, there were controversies between them as well. Once Gavaskar also recalled his heated exchange with Dev.

Dev played with Sachin Tendulkar as well in the later half of his career. He also had a story to share on the show Breakfast with Champions where he recalled his first encounter bowling in the nets to the Master Blaster. Dev said he knew that Tendulkar was certainly something special.

Kapil Dev recalled his first incident of bowling to young Sachin Tendulkar

Dev recalled that it was Raj Bhai, who called him to bowl to young Tendulkar in the nets. Raj Singh Dungarpur was a national selector for 2 terms and he also played First-Class cricket for more than 16 years. He was also a manager of Indian team on 4 overseas tours.

Obviously, Tendulkar was not a known name at the time, and Dev revealed that he was quite tired as well after training, but bowled to him to make the youngster happy.

However, Dev then decided to bowl a few balls, and he was quite impressed with the youngster. He revealed that he tried to test Tendulkar later on, but he brilliantly played him. Dev realized that time that Tendulkar will be a big player in the future.

“Raj bhai came to me and he was like ‘ye young bachcha hai, isko ball daal do khush ho jaayega‘ [He is a young kind, bowl him he’ll get happy],” Kapil Dev said in Breakfast with Champions.

“I said Raj bhai main thaka hua hun {I told Raj, I am tired]. Anyhow, main gaya nets mein maine 1-2-3 balls daale toh laga ki maar sakta hai [Anyhow, I went in the nets and bowled a few balls, then I realized that he can hit].”

“Then I was like, let me test him a bit. Usne aisa shot maara [He hit a shot], I was like ‘Oh’!.”

A ten-year-old boy saw Kapil Dev lifting the 1983 World Cup and started dreaming of winning another one for India. That boy was me. Happy birthday, Kapil Paaji! May you continue to inspire millions. pic.twitter.com/OSIKPqptNX

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 6, 2023

Tendulkar made his debut for the Indian team in 1989 at an age of 16, whereas Dev played his last international match in 1994. Both of them are legends of Indian cricket.