Kapil Dev's special delivery: taking Pooran Singh's ashes from Australia to India

Cricket legend Kapil Dev gave 'ashes' a whole new meaning when he came to Australia to fulfil an Indian hawker Pooran Singh's last wish, 63 years after he died in the small country town Warrnambool, in Victoria.

Kapil Dev at the ashes handover ceremony in Warrnambool in July 2010 Source: SBS Punjabi

A plaque at the niche at Warrnambool cemetery that remained home to Pooran's ashes for decades Source: Manpreet K Singh, SBS Punjabi

In the audio link above, which was first broadcast on SBS World News in July 2010, hear how the 'cricketer of the century' came from India to Australia to build a bridge of goodwill between the two countries, at a time when reports of violence against Indian international students was making daily headlines around the world.

Mr Dev found out that the Guyett family of Warrnambool had held on to the ashes of Pooran Singh, an Indian hawker who came to Australia in 1899 and died in 1947, for more than six decades, in deference to his last wish that his ashes be immersed in the holy Ganges river in India. 

To hear and read the transcript of the audio documentary Pooran Singh's final journey, click on the links below.