Today I am writing about one of the great sport superstar of India, and he is considered as one of the great All Rounder and definitely India’s greatest All Rounder in the game of Test cricket, and he is none other than KAPIL DEV.
Kapil made his Test Cricket debut in Faislabad, Pakistan on 16 October 1978. Although his match figures were unimpressive, the numbers did not convey any measure of Kapil’s contribution in the match. With his speed and bounce, he brought glee to the Indian players as the Pakistani batsmen were startled with bouncers that struck their helmets on more than one occasion. Kapil also captured his maiden wicket of Sadiq Mohammad with his trademark out swinger He showcased his all rounder talent when he scored India’s fastest Test half-century off 33 balls and 2 sixes in each of the innings during the 3rd Teast Match atnational Stadium,Karachi, although India lost the match and the series 2–0.
In the next test series at Home against West Indies, he scored his first Test Century at Delhi, and had a steady bowling performance in the series(17 wickets at av. of 33). His next overseas series against England was not much of success and India’s performance in 1979 World Cup is not worth mentioning.
Kapil Dev established himself as India’s premier fast bowler when he took two 5-wicket hauls and ended the home series against Australia with 28 wickets (Average: 22.32) and also 212 runs that included a half-century. Kapil Dev gained fame in the 6-Test home series against Pakistan in the 1979–80 season when he led India to 2 victories against the visitors – once with the bat (69) at Wankhede Stadium,Bombay, and the second time with bat and ball (10-wicket haul in match – 4/90 in the first innings and 7/56 in the second innings, 84 in 98 balls with his bat) at Chepauk,, Madras. Kapil rates his all-round performance in this match as his best bowling effort in his career, and his second innings figure of 7/56 was his best to-date. During the series, he also became the youngest Test player to achieve the all-round double of 100 Wickets and 1000 Runs and in 25 matches , and finished the series with 32 wickets (Ave: 17.68) and 278 runs that included 2 fifties
India toured Australia in 1980/81. India were 1-0 down in series and were defending a total of only 143 to save the match. Although Kapil was having groin injury, still he bowled on the last day and won match for India with his 5 wicket’s haul. Some how on this tour of Australia , with Tri series ODI with New Zealand, Kapil could not make proper adjustments from Test to ODI series.
Next was home series with England,in which Kapil scored 318 runs and took 22 wickets. In the next 3 test series in England, in 1982, he scored 292 runs and took 10 wickets. In both these series he won the man of the series award.
Next was disastrous away series against Pakistan , where performance of Imran Khan(40 Wickets & 1 Century) destroyed India. Kapil note worthy performance was only in 2nd test(5 for 102) and in 3rd test(7 for 220) & 4th Test( 8 for 85). After his return from the Pakistan series , he was made Captain for 1983 West Indies series.
Only note worthy performance of this series was first ODI victory against West Indies( India 282/5- & West Indies 255).
Next was 1983 World Cup in One Day Cricket, which India won under his captaincy.I am not writing about this victory here, as that will need a separate blog.
After the world cup, West Indies visited India and they beat India convincingly, In test Series 3-0, and in ODI 5-0. Kapil achieved his best bowling performance in lost test match at Ahmedabad, which was 9 for 83. Nothing much to say about his batting performance in the series.
After this series Kapil lost his captaincy and Gavaskar was re appointed as captain.
Gavaskar left the captaincy after India won World Series Championship in 1985 at Australia. Again Kapil was made Captain.
Kapil was retained as captain for the 1987 World Cup. In their first match, Australia scored 268 against India. However, after the close of innings, Kapil Dev agreed with the umpires that the score should be increased to 270 as one boundary during the innings had been mistakenly signalled as a four and not a six. In their reply, India scored 269 falling short of Australia’s score by one run. In the Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack, it was reported that “ Dev’s sportsmanship proved the deciding factor in a close-run match”. India went on to reach the semi-final of the 1987 World Cup, where they lost to England. Kapil faced the blame for India’s defeat as he holed out to deep mid-wicket triggering a collapse that led to the unexpected loss. He did not captain India again, even though he was the Vice-captain for India’s tour to Pakistan in 1989.
The captaincy period was on the whole a difficult one for him as it was mired with reports of differences with Gavaskar, as well as his own inconsistent form as a bowler. However, both men have since insisted that these reports were exaggerated.
He was involved in a notable incident during the Lord’s Test Match of 1990, when he hit off-spinner Eddie Hemmings for four sixes in succession to take India past the follow-on target. He was also cited by umpire Dickie Bird as being one of the greatest all-rounders
Kapil retired in 1994, holding the world record for the most number of wickets taken in Test Cricket, a record subsequently broken by Courtney Walsh in 2000, and now the record stands in the name of Muralidharan of Sri Lanka with more than 700 test wickets. At the time, he was also India’s highest wicket taker in both major forms of cricket, Tests and ODIs. He is the only player in the history of cricket to have taken more than 400 wickets (434 wickets) and scored more than 5,000 runs in Tests making him one of the greatest All Rounders to have played the game.
Today’s younger generation may not have heard about him in greater details, as he retired from the game 24 years back. If IPL would have happened in his playing days, then he would have become great T2o player also, because he loved hitting sixes, and also loved to bowl in short spells.
Awaiting your comments/views/feed backs.
I will be not in position to write my blogs for next few days, next blog now will be on 1st Oct 2018, as I am out of station till next Saturday.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
20 Sept, 20018
R. N. Mungale.
True if KapilDeo was in IPL days he would have broken all records. He is the best all-rounder India had.