Kapil Dev, an ex Indian cricketer, is the best all-rounder India has produced till date. But his contribution as the captain of the Indian Cricket team has been legendary as well. After all, he led India to its first World Cup victory. Kapil`s career lasted from 1979 to 1994, and saw him break and set a number of records. He overtook Richard Hadlee`s record of 431 Test wickets. His record was later over taken by Courtney Walsh and is presently held by retired Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan. The Haryana Hurricane, as he was nicknamed, was capable of holding his place in the side on the basis of his bowling ability only. In fact he started his career batting at No. 11 before moving up the order later. As a bowler, Kapil had a polished action, which helped him bowl the out swinger at will and his in swinging yorker was almost unplayable for the tail enders. He was India`s leading pace bowler throughout the 80s.
He was named as the Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden in 2002. Kapil Dev was also India`s national cricket coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000.
On 8th March 2010, Kapil Dev was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Early Life of Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev was born on 6th January 1959, to Ram Lal Nikhanj and Raj Kumari Lajwanti, a Punjabi family. He was the sixth of the seven siblings. During partition his parents had actually migrated from Kahuta village near Rawalpindi, and settled in Chandigarh. He studied at the D.A.V. School and joined Desh Prem Azad in 1971.
Career of Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev made his debut against Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1979. He was impressive in the series and when Pakistan toured India next season, he delivered a man of the series performance as India won the series 2-0. Kapil was beginning to be recognized at the international stage and he became an even bigger hero when he bowled India to a victory over Australia at Melbourne with an injured leg. He maintained his consistency, as he was the man of the series in both the home and away series in 1981-82. But his greatest moment of glory was without doubt lifting the World Cup at the Lords balcony in `83. In the same year, Kapil registered his career-best figures of 9/83 in a Test against West Indies at Ahmedabad. Unfortunately, during this peak of his career, he had to undergo a knee surgery in 1984 following which his bowling lost some bite. He carried on playing till 1994 bringing in all his experience into play and ended his career on a high note - the bowler with the most wickets in Test cricket.
Kapil was a naturally aggressive batsman. His most famous innings came in the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe when he played what can only be described as a captain`s knock amassing 175 after India had crumbled to 5/17. The innings was the first century by an Indian in one-day internationals, and the only one by Kapil in his entire ODI career for India. Unfortunately there is no recording of that tremendous innings as the BBC staff went on a flash strike that day.
Batting and Fielding Averages
|
Mat |
Inns |
NO |
Runs |
HS |
Ave |
BF |
SR |
100 |
50 |
6s |
Ct |
St |
| Tests |
131 |
184 |
15 |
5248 |
163 |
31.05 |
|
|
8 |
27 |
61 |
64 |
0 |
| ODIs |
225 |
198 |
39 |
3783 |
175* |
23.79 |
3979 |
95.07 |
1 |
14 |
|
71 |
0 |
| First-class |
275 |
384 |
39 |
11356 |
193 |
32.91 |
|
|
18 |
56 |
|
192 |
0 |
| List A |
310 |
270 |
47 |
5481 |
175* |
24.57 |
|
|
2 |
23 |
|
99 |
0 |
Bowling Averages
|
Mat |
Inns |
Balls |
Runs |
Wkts |
BBI |
BBM |
Ave |
Econ |
SR |
4w |
5w |
10 |
| Tests |
131 |
227 |
27740 |
12867 |
434 |
9/83 |
11/146 |
29.64 |
2.78 |
63.9 |
17 |
23 |
2 |
| ODIs |
225 |
221 |
11202 |
6945 |
253 |
5/43 |
5/43 |
27.45 |
3.71 |
44.2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
| First-class |
275 |
|
48853 |
22626 |
835 |
9/83 |
|
27.09 |
2.77 |
58.5 |
|
39 |
3 |
| List A |
310 |
|
14947 |
9161 |
335 |
5/43 |
5/43 |
27.34 |
3.67 |
44.6 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
Amongst his other notable batting efforts include hitting 4 consecutive sixes against England`s Eddie Hemmings in 1990 when India needed 24 runs to save the follow-on. A couple of years later in 1992, he hooked and pulled effortlessly against pace sensation Allan Donald and registered a memorable century even as the other batsmen struggled.
Kapil Dev was also India`s National Cricket coach for ten months from October 1999 to August 2000. 2008 Kapil Dev joined the Indian Territorial Army and was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel by Lt General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of the Army Staff.
Achievements of Kapil Dev
Awards
1979-80 -
Arjuna Award
1982 -
Padma Shri
1983 - Wisden Cricketer of the Year
1991 -
Padma Bhushan
2002 - Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century
2010 - ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
