KAPIL DEV

Personal Information

Born

Jan 06, 1959 (57 years)

Birth Place

Chandigarh

Nickname

Dev

Height

--

Role

Batting Allrounder

Batting Style

Right Handed Bat

Bowling Style

Right-arm fast-medium

Family photos :

 

Family vedios :

 

Batting Career Summary

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

Bowling Career Summary

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

Career Information

Intl Debut

at 19y  vs Pakistan . Oct 01, 1978

Last Intl Match

vs West Indies . Oct 17, 1994

Current Teams

India 

Profile

In short, Kapil Dev was India's best fast bowler, best all-rounder and one of India's best captains who will always be remembered for leading the country to the biggest thing to happen to Indian cricket: the 1983 World Cup triumph. With the ball, he was known for his energetic action and lethal outswingers which took the ball away from the right handers. With the bat, he was an aggressive lower-middle order batsman who could shift the momentum of a game in minutes. On the field, he was known for his inspirational leadership (often by example) and athletic fielding. All these qualities made him the only player in the history of the game to have taken 400 wickets and scored more than 5000 runs in Test cricket, making him one of the all-time best all-rounders of the game.

Kapil made his debut in 1978 and gradually showcased himself with both bat and ball, especially in Test cricket. In his early years, he came across as a raw talent who was keen on just 'running in and bowling fast' when he had the ball, and 'hitting hard' when he had the bat. The approach saw him score India's fastest Test half-century (off 33 balls) against Pakistan in his very third match. He came of age in the home series against Pakistan in 1979-80, where his all-round performances (32 wickets and 278 runs) helped India win 2 Tests. In the series, he became the youngest player to reach 100 wickets and 1000 runs in Test cricket. For the next two seasons, steady performances with the ball and useful contributions with the bat made him a captain-material at a young age. However, for some reason, his ODI performances remained ordinary compared to his growth in Test cricket.

Captaincy came soon. Kapil Dev replaced Sunil Gavaskar in the 1982-83 season and was appointed the captain for the World Cup to be played at England in 1983. He played one of the all-time best knocks in ODI cricket in a must-win match against Zimbabwe, where he rescued India from a disastrous 17 for 5 with a stunning 175 off 138 balls. Unfortunately, the match was not telecasted due to a BBC strike. The knock gave India a momentum which they seized, and went on to win the
trophy for the first time, defeating the mighty West Indies in the final at Lord's.

Post World Cup, a slump in Kapil's batting form saw Gavaskar return as captain for a brief period of time. However, he regained his leadership role and led India for the title defence in the 1987 World Cup at home. India reached the semi-finals but lost unexpectedly to England. Kapil Dev took responsibility and never captained India again, although he continued to be India's frontline pacer till he retired in 1994 as Test cricket's highest wicket taker.

After retirement, Kapil Dev became India's coach for a brief period of time in 1999-2000. A 0-3 whitewash against Australia, a 0-2 loss to South Africa and accusations of match-fixing saw him step down from the post as he announced that he was leaving the game forever. However, he was cleared of all charges and won the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century, ahead of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. He joined the National Cricket Academy in 2004 but was removed from the chairmanship after he joined the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2007.