The empty wall at the PCA Stadium after the removal of Kapil Dev’s mural. A Telegraph picture

Chandigarh: The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) on Wednesday promised Kapil Dev that his mural would be restored at the Mohali stadium following a stinging email from India’s only World Cup winning captain.

Miffed after his mural was brought down two weeks back, Kapil shot off an e-mail to the PCA, asking them to return him all his memorabilia if they cannot preserve them.

PCA secretary M.P. Pandove said that the association, in its reply to the former captain, had assured that his mural “would soon be back where it was” and that all his memorabilia and gifts were being “properly preserved in a most befitting manner.”

“We have full respect for Kapil Dev and all his memorabilia and gifts are well preserved… It has nothing to do with his joining the (rebel) Indian Cricket League,” Pandove said.

Pandove, also the Board joint secretary, said he would personally speak to the legendary allrounder. “I will speak to Kapil as well and remove all apprehensions in his mind. We have full respect for him,” he said.

“Kapil’s picture had got damaged. We are also contemplating changing Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar’s pictures as they have faded somewhat… We are in touch with architects on the matter,” Pandove remarked.

According to PCA officials, Kapil’s mural was removed to prevent it from crashing down.

The question, however, doing the rounds is why did the PCA decide to remove Kapil’s mural and keep the other two in place when all three needed to be changed. Perhaps an inquiry could throw some light into it.

Pandove said the PCA had time till October to change all murals facing the road outside the stadium. “The next match is against Australia in October and we have time to decide whether we would like to have posters or murals of the three greats of Indian cricket,” he added.

Kapil also appeared satisfied with the PCA’s explanation and said the purpose of sending the e-mail was to clear certain doubts in his mind.

Kapil, in his email, said: “If the PCA is not willing to preserve and finds it difficult to keep those items or ever think of throwing them out in that case I can preserve them… I came to know through media reports that PCA has removed my portrait from the PCA ground in Mohali.

“I am concerned about the personal gifts and memorabilia of my cricketing years and also that of 1983 World Cup cricket tournament given to me by the PCA which are kept at various places at the Mohali Stadium. I will be grateful if the same is returned to me so that I can preserve them.”

Kapil, however, sounded mellowed down later.

“I never asked them to return (those memorabilia). I said ‘if you wish not to keep my stuff, give it back to me, rather than throwing it into the dustbin’, so that I can preserve those,” he said.