Kapil Dev Journey So Far

Kapil Dev Journey So Far

Kapil Dev Journey So Far: Even with the production hub that is India, a top class player isn’t particularly surprising. Unless you say that one of the world’s best bowlers was Indian, they will react in disbelief to our statement.

Kapildev Ramlal Nikhanj is arguably India’s best fast bowler, and certainly her best all-rounder. He will always be remembered for being captain of the team that won India’s first Cricket World Cup in 1983. As he raised the trophy for his team, several young players watched from the stands, including one from Mumbai.

Kapil Dev was known for his accurate swinging bowling, and as a good lower order batsman. His success as a captain garnered him inspiration on the field and led to fan admiration. He was also successful in the outfield, catching a hit ball backhanded against Sir Vivian Richards.

Beyond numbers, Kapil Dev would be an accurate description of his value to the team as he was involved in all Test matches.  A fair statement is that he was one of the best all arounders due to his ability in both batting and bowling.

Kapil debuted in 1978 with a loose approach. He gradually started to produce performances of substance. His early years came across as raw talent, keen on just ripping his shoulder off with every ball and tonking the leather off the ball when he had the bat. However, he came of age in 1979-80 against Pakistan, where his all-round performances helped him gain momentum. He was able to score India’s fastest Test half-century (33 balls) and come through to pass 2 Tests while taking 32 wickets and 278 runs in the same games.

Kapil Dev reached 100 wickets and 1000 runs in Test cricket. In ODIs, he didn’t quite live up to his antics in Tests – largely due to the nascent stage of the format, or because he had other priorities stacked up in favor of Test cricket.

Kapil Dev replaced Sunil Gavaskar in 1982 and then went on to lead the 1984 World Cup. He managed an impressive game against Zimbabwe’s reigning players, where he was batting for 17 for 5.

Kapil took advantage of the lack of coverage by destroying Zimbabwe’s bowling and went on to 175* off 138 balls. His performance gave India momentum, which they seized and went on to win for the first time, beating West Indies in the league stages, the hosts in the semi-final, and finally edging out West Indies in a low scoring final.

India was led by Gavaskar for one World Cup before he would eventually reinstate himself as the captain to helm India’s title defense in the 1987 World Cup hosted at home. Although he led India to the semis, they were then unexpectedly defeated by England.

When India found out they only had 1 run to win while playing Australia in a game, they agreed with the umpires to increase the score from 268 to 270. After giving up responsibility, Kapil Dev never captained again and continued to be India’s first choice pacer until his retirement in 1994.

After his retirement, he was appointed as the Indian coach but was fired after a series of 0-3 losses and further scandal.

However, his guilty charges were acquitted. However, Kapil Dev eventually won the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century Award, out of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. He became a popular critic and commentator after being removed from his life-long chairmanship position after joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2007.

Batting:

	M	Inn	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100	200	50	4s	6s
Test	131	184	15	5248	163	31.05	5538	94.76	8	0	27	587	61
ODI	225	198	39	3783	175	23.79	3979	95.07	1	0	14	291	67

Bowling:

	M	Inn	B	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Econ	Avg	SR	5W	10W
Test	131	227	27740	12867	434	9/83	11/146	2.78	29.65	63.92	23	2
ODI	225	221	11202	6945	253	5/43	5/43	3.72	27.45	44.28	1	0

Personal Information
Born	Jan 06, 1959
Birth Place	Chandigarh
Role	Batting Allrounder
Batting Style	Right Handed Bat
Bowling Style	Right-arm fast-medium