The cricketers voted him the “Greatest Indian Cricketer.” What better accolade could Kapil Dev have expected to put in perspective a glorious chapter in the history of the game. He was a match-winner with the bat and the ball, a one-man army, much respected by the opponents and much-admired by his colleagues.
Kapil was a natural. He could play football (turned out in a couple of games for East Bengal), table tennis, tennis, volleyball and, after retirement, showed his skills at golf. Today, he travels the world to give motivational lectures and squeezes in time for a round of golf. “Golf is an addiction,” he confesses. But so was cricket for the way he played it.
As captain, all-rounder, icon of the game, Kapil’s crowning moment came in 1983 when he led India to victory in the Prudential World Cup. That victory changed the face of Indian cricket and created a self-belief for the next generation. He was the happiest when India repeated the feat in 2011 in Mumbai. But Kapil and his team would be known forever or climbing the peak at Lord’s and ensuring that India also became a force in limited overs cricket.
His illustrious career was replete with many outstanding spells. In January 1980 in Chennai, his favourite venue, Kapil claimed four for 90 and seven for 56, to blow away Pakistan. Among his wickets were Mudassar Nazar, Sadiq Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Asif Iqbal, Wasim Bari and Imran Khan. In 1981, against Australia in Melbourne, he ignored a thigh injury and produced a scorching spell of five for 28 to skittle out the home team for 83. India, having conceded a first innings lead of 182 runs, won the Test by 59 runs. But a spell very close to his heart is the four for 26 to trigger Rest of India’s collapse in the second innings of the Irani Cup in 1991, which Haryana won by four wickets as he hit a quickfire 53 to follow his excellent bowling.
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