Just played to the best of my ability, recalls Kapil

MUMBAI: Kapil Dev was as humble as ever when TOI contacted him on the eve of the silver jubilee of that famous 175. "Ah, I was just playing to the best of my ability. God was very kind to me," he quipped.
'Paaji' may have held the innings together, however, the contribution of Roger Binny, Madan Lal and Syed Kirmani was superb nonetheless.
Together, they added 63 runs in nearly 24 overs and stood by their skipper during those hours of high drama.
Kapil saw the back of Yashpal Sharma soon after he came in to bat. As India were tottering at 17-5, it was Roger Binny's turn to face the music on a 'green top'. He lasted 48 balls and added exactly 60 runs for the sixth wicket���his contribution being 22 with two fours.
At 77-6, India were, by no means, safe. Ravi Shastri, too, departed soon and Zimbabwe had already made plans to party that night. It was 78-7 and Madan Lal walked in.
"Kapil asked me to just stay there and not try anything silly," said Lal, who rates the knock as the best-ever One-day innings.
"It was like Diwali in broad daylight," said former India stumper Syed Kirmani, who joined his skipper at 140-8. The duo added an unbeaten 126 for the ninth wicket with Kirmani making 24.
It was a dream knock and such was the mood. Team manager PR Man Singh was the epitome of superstition and Sandeep Patil recalls an incident.
K Srikkanth, who was newly-married then, was constantly taking breaks to answer 'nature's calls'. "He was going to meet wife Vidya, who was sitting in the stands. After a point, he just stood there even as Kapil and Binny were getting their act together. The manager told him not to move and the couple just stood there, braving the cold breeze for nearly three hours," Patil said.
"The team partied like mad that night," sums up Kirmani. The architect of the win took some well-deserved rest. "I was too tired. My focus was on the upcoming games," Kapil signed off in typical style.