Cricket has seen its share of strange moments, but few are as surreal as an incident involving Kapil Dev and Dawood Ibrahim in Sharjah during the mid-1980s. At the time, Sharjah was a buzzing hub for Indo-Pak cricket, drawing not just fans but powerful personalities from outside the sport.
Ahead of a high-pressure match, the Indian team was gathered in the dressing room, focused on preparations.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar man walked in. He wasn’t a player, coach, or official – just someone confidently entering a space meant to be private. Some players assumed he was an associate of a sponsor or a well-known face accompanying organisers. No one imagined who he really was.
The visitor was polite, smiling, and spoke casually. He reportedly told the team that if India managed to beat Pakistan, each player would be gifted a car.
For a brief moment, the offer sounded bizarre rather than threatening. The players were young, the setting was informal, and Sharjah cricket had a reputation for attracting unusual characters.
That’s when Kapil Dev, then India’s captain, stepped in.
Kapil didn’t ask for introductions or explanations. He simply noticed that an outsider had entered the dressing room – and that, for him, crossed a line.
Calm but firm, Kapil asked the man to leave immediately. There was no drama, no raised voices. The visitor complied and quietly walked out.
At the time, Kapil Dev had no idea that the man he had just dismissed would later be known as one of India’s most infamous underworld figures. For Kapil, the issue wasn’t power, money, or influence – it was about protecting his team’s space and focus.
Only much later did the players realise that the man was Dawood Ibrahim.
The revelation added a chilling layer to what had seemed like an odd but harmless interruption. In hindsight, the moment became a powerful reflection of Kapil’s leadership – instinctive, uncompromising, and rooted in integrity.
The incident has since passed into cricket folklore, often retold not for shock value, but as a reminder of a time when the sport brushed uncomfortably close to the outside world – and how one captain ensured that cricket, at least inside the dressing room, remained untouched.
