Indian cricket great Kapil Dev follows his passion for golf
India's World Cup-winning captain from 1983 now follows his passion for golf, taking part in this week's Asia-Pacific seniors event in HK
Kapil Dev is still lighting up the world of sport - when he is not on the golf course blazing a trail, as he did at the Asia-Pacific Senior Amateur Championship at Discovery Bay Golf Club last week.
The former India World Cup-winning captain took up golf after he retired from test cricket in 1994.
"I don't like to sit around doing nothing and as soon as I stopped playing cricket I took up golf. My handicap is three and I played two-over today. Not bad," says Kapil, India's greatest fast-bowling all-rounder who played 131 tests, taking 434 wickets and scoring 5,248 runs.
My handicap is three and I played two-over today. Not bad
Speaking after the opening round on Wednesday, the 55-year-old Kapil found himself two strokes behind the leader, though he blew it on the final round, shooting 80 to finish 13th. But, as he sipped a cup of tea, it was cricket he wanted to talk about.
Unlike most legendary figures who still stay involved in the game in some fashion - as coaches, writers or commentators - Kapil is now a businessman.
"We provide floodlighting for all types of sports - football stadiums, hockey and cricket grounds, everything. That is why I don't have time to be involved in cricket. But I find time to play golf. It is my passion now," he says.
Before arriving in Hong Kong last week, he was in Melbourne with the prime ministers of Australia and India, Tony Abbott and Narendra Modi, who used cricket to underline the close ties between the two countries.
With India set to start a four-test tour of Australia in Brisbane on December 4, it is an opportune time to talk about the World Cup, which will be played in Australia and New Zealand early next year. Will Mahendra Singh Dhoni become the first Indian captain to hold the trophy twice?