Mumbai: Former skipper Dilip Vengsarkar on Monday made a startling revelation about underworld don Dawood Ibrahim entering the Indian team dressing room and offering the players cars if they beat Pakistan in the final of the Sharjah tournament in 1986.
Vengsarkar claimed that Dawood had walked into the team's dressing room a day before the match and offered each player a Toyota car if they beat Pakistan and won the Australia-Asia Cup in Sharjah.
The cricketeer said the fugitive gangster was introduced by the famous actor Mehmood as a businessman. However, Dawood was asked by the then India's captain Kapil Dev to walk out of the dressing room.
"Actor Mehmood was in our dressing room. Kapil Dev was not in the dressing room at that time because he had gone out to address the press conference. Dawood was introduced by actor Mehmood," Vengsarkar said at a function in Jalgaon. "No one recognised him but I had seen his photographs. Mehmood introduced him to us as a big businessman from here. Mehmood said he wants to announce a prize for us. He said 'If you beat Pakistan tomorrow, everyone will get a car'. Jayawant Lele was our manager then," he added.
The match will be best remembered for the last-ball six hit by Javed Miandad off Chetan Sharma that helped Pakistan win the trophy.
However, on contacting Vengsarkar, he denied the report. "This is all nonsense. I don't know what the TV channels are up to. One news channel has recorded it and now other channels are picking it up. This is nothing but mischief and attempts to malign me. I have never said anything like this."
Kapil Dev confirmed the news, but denied that Dawood had offered cars to the team. "I remember someone had come to meet a team member, but I told him he is not supposed to be here because this is the players' dressing room. He immediately said sorry and went away. Later, I was told his name, which I heard for the first time. I don't really remember anything beyond that," Kapil said.
Madal Lal too endorsed Kapil's statement. "I don't understand why Dilip has talked about it after so long. If I recall correctly, a gentleman entered the dressing room and Kapil drove him away. I came to know only later that he was Dawood. I don't recollect anything about cars being promised as I was training."
Former Indian left-arm spinner Maninder Singh didn't remember Dawood entering the dressing room, but recalled that the underworld don would attend parties along with the cricketers. "I didn't know him till his pictures appeared in newspapers. He was there in parties, but I don't remember seeing him in the dressing room," said Maninder.
BJP MP Kirti Azad, who also played in the match, said, "I have no idea about this incident. I don't remember seeing anyone in the dressing room because Kapil wouldn't have allowed anyone inside. Why is the matter being raised now?"
