In 1986 Dawood Ibrahim was running a multi-crore criminal syndicate in India and Dubai but for the then Indian team captain Kapil Dev, he was an intruder into the team’s dressing room in Sharjah. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar made this revelation during an interactive session at an event in Jalgaon on Monday.
On the eve of the India-Pakistan final in Sharjah, Vengsarkar said Hindi film actor Mehmood had brought a man into the Indian dressing room. “Actor Mehmood came and was sitting in the dressing room. Kapil was addressing a press conference outside. As I had seen his photograph and moreover he was with Mehmood, I suspected it was him, while nobody else seemed to have recognised him,” recalled Vengsarkar.
He added that Mehmood did not reveal Dawood’s identity to them and just introduced him as a businessman from Sharjah who had to offer a big prize for them. “Dawood said if you defeat Pakistan tomorrow, everyone will get one car,” said Vengsarkar. Dawood further said he would be offering brand new Toyota Corolla cars to every player.