By Kapil Dev After a glittering career in which he led India to victory in the 1983 World Cup as captain and a champion all-rounder, Kapil Dev is also an avid golfer post-retirement and currently the president of the Professional Golf Tour of India. India’s OG golfing cricketer, or cricketing golfer, talks about the similarities. Timing: The most crucial common link The timing and grip is most important in cricket and golf. If you don’t have timing, you end up hitting the ball too hard. If your grip is proper, then the impact is beautiful, and things change. The second most important thing is the belief within the players that they can do that (hit sixes). In our time, the belief wasn’t there. A 15-year-old boy doesn’t have that much strength to do that (hit sixes), but he has belief. Their equipment is ready, and then on top of that, timing is important. You don’t have to be Chris Gayle to hit very big sixes. Today, because of technology, bats have become much more refined. Body balance crucial when making impact In golf, it’s much more technical because it’s a stationary ball. I played cricket, and I played golf. The balance of the body is very important. When you make an impact, your body should be ready. There are some players who hit through cover, but their legs are in the air. But Virender Sehwag could hit with ease and Sachin Tendulkar too, because their base was very strong. For a cricketer or a golfer, if the base is strong, the impact is much harder. If there is balance of the feet, then the hips, shoulders, arms everything comes into play. Some people’s arm swing is bigger, some people’s body swing is bigger. Yashasvi Jaiswal has a full body swing. Follow through not essential in cricket There has to be a follow-through in cricket and golf. But some cricketers can hit without a full follow-through, too. Yuvraj (Singh) played two types of shots, one in which he stops his bat after impact and one with the full follow-through. If your hip, body and shoulder are in rhythm, then controlling the bigger muscles is easier. The hip, the shoulder and the back are all big muscles. The forearm is a smaller muscle. In golf, you need a full swing, but they also say the point of impact is important. Hand-eye coordination The two games are different, but eye-hand coordination is important in both. Over the years, when you play cricket, your hand-eye coordination improves. You don’t need to be Dara Singh. See Hardik Pandya hit the ball, and you know he has strength and hand-eye coordination. Swing: Hockey comes closer Hockey players have a swing that is closer to golf than a cricketer. Because the hockey ball is also on the ground and so is the golf ball.Story continues below this ad Benefits for a cricketer I played golf after I stopped playing cricket. But even cricketers in the past would play golf. Gary Sobers used to play all the time. Don Bradman used to play golf. There is a photograph of Bradman playing golf. Indians never used to play, I don’t know why. They liked to sit in the room. Golf can 100 percent help a cricketer. Had I played golf when playing cricket, I would have scored another 2,000 runs minimum. Because it improves focus, coordination and timing. I don’t have words to express the amount of pleasure golf has given me. Challenges for a cricketer playing golf Hitting accurately is a very big challenge in golf. Because in golf, your target is very small and you have to hit towards the target. So you have to be very steady with your body, your mind, your hand-eye coordination, all the time. Everybody can hit a stationary ball if they have the timing and the right swing. But hitting where you exactly intend it to go becomes difficult in golf. In cricket, you can hit 360 degrees, if not over cover then over mid-off. Golf is not about 360-degree hitting. You have to hit it perfectly. Heavy cricket bat, lighter golf club You have to adjust to the weights but I don’t think it is a very big challenge. Certain people can write well in Hindi and English or certain people can sing well, be it Classical or rock music. Certain people have the ability to play different sports well and it depends on your natural ability. The one challenge I see is that if you have played cricket for India and think you will play golf in the same manner it is not going to happen. Your mindset is that ‘I represented the country in cricket’ but if you take up golf and think you will do the similar thing, it is not possible. As told to Nihal Koshie
Kapil Dev: ‘Had I played golf with cricket, I would have scored another 2,000 runs’
