India of my dreams…series

Biography of Kapil Dev

Although cricket became popular during the British raj but it was largely because of two players that the game became a household name in India in 80's. These two were Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. Kapil indeed ruled the minds and hearts of an entire generation in the 1980s and the one that followed. Till the rise of Kapil Dev, India was known for deadly spinners and his emergence coincided with the decline of the famous spin quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and S. Venkataraghavan

Kapil Dev was the greatest pace bowler India has produced, and their greatest fast-bowling all rounder. Such was the charisma and stamina of this man that at one point of time he became the highest wicket taker in test and one day cricket. Along with Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev was considered the greatest all rounder of his times.

Kapil Dev was the man who marshalled his boys to the most famous victory in Indian Cricket- the cricket world cup of 1983. Not only did he jelled the team together but also played the most memorable knock, in the history of the world cup cricket, against Zimbabwe. Kapil came to bat when India were almost out of the match at 17/5. And then he played like God and robbed the match from the opposition. He was rightly named the Wisden International Cricketer of the Year in 1983.

As skipper of the Indian team he did a decent job and led the team to a series victory against England in 1986. Throughout his cricketing career Kapil Dev contributed to the cause of the team with both bat and the ball and saved the team from impossible situations. One such occasion was when Kapil hit 4 consecutive sixes off the bowling of Eddie Hemmings (England) in 1990 to save India from follow on. Kapil Dev's super human match winning effort with the ball in the Melbourne Test of 1980 against Australia, in which he bowled nonstop for 3 hours to bowl out Australia after taking painkilling injections for a worn out hamstring and a pulled groin muscle, is still remembered with awe and respect.

Kapil remained away from the game for some time after retirement and took to golfing and later became the coach of the Indian Cricket team in 1999. As a mark of respect for his contribution to the Indian cricket, the Indian government honored him with the 'Padmabhushan' award. It was not a surprise when Kapil was chosen the Indian cricketer of the century by Wisden, beating the likes of the great Sunil Gavaskar and the batting genius, Sachin Tendulkar.