Kapil Dev

About Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (born 6 January 1959), better known as Kapil Dev, is a former Indian cricketer. He captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002,Kapil Dev is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time. He was also India's national cricket coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000.

Domestic career:

Kapil Dev made an impressive debut for Haryana in November 1975 against Punjab with a 6 wicket haul, restricting Punjab to just 63 runs and helping Haryana to victory. Kapil finished the season with 12 wickets in 3 matches.

1976–77 season:

In the 1976–77 season opener against Jammu & Kashmir, he had a match haul of 8/36 to win the match for his team. While his contributions for the rest of the season was ordinary, Haryana qualified for the pre quarterfinals. Kapil Dev achieved his then best innings haul of 7/20 in just 9 overs in the second innings to skittle Bengal for 58 runs in under 19 overs. Although Haryana lost to Bombay in the quarter finals, his form made the nation sit up and take notice.

1977–78 season:

Kapil began his 1977–78 season claiming 8/38 in the first innings against Services. With 3 wickets in the second innings, he took his maiden 10-wicket haul in first-class cricket, a feat he would later achieve twice in Test cricket. With 23 wickets in 4 matches, he was selected for the Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Wills Trophy matches.

Haryana:- 1990–91 Ranji champions:

In the 1990–91 Ranji season, Haryana rode into the semi-finals on the back of the bowling performance of Chetan Sharma and the batting performance of Amarjit Kaypee. Kapil took centre stage in the semi-final against Bengal, where he led his team to a Mammoth score of 605 runs by scoring 141 as well as taking 5 wickets.

The finals of the 1991 season will be remembered for the number of international cricketers who were part of the match with Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Ajay Jadeja and Vijay Yadav turning up for Haryana and Bombay cricket team represented by Sanjay Manjrekar, Vinod Kambli, Sachin Tendulkar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Chandrakant Pandit, Salil Ankola and Abey Kuruvilla. Deepak Sharma (199), Ajay Jadeja (94) and Chetan Sharma (98) helped Haryana to a score of 522 while Yogendra Bhandari (5 wickets) and Kapil Dev (3 wickets) restricted Bombay to 410 runs in the first innings. A crucial 41 from Kapil and top scorer Banerjee (60) took Haryana to 242 runs, setting Bombay a target of 355 runs. After the initial wickets, Vengsarkar (139) and Tendulkar (96) fought back for the Bombay team. After Tendulkar's dismissal, Haryana took the final 6 wickets for 102 runs and Vengsarkar and Bombay were stranded 3 runs short of the target. Kapil won his maiden and only Ranji Trophy championship.

Kapil Dev Achievements

Records:

Test cricket:

• In early 1994, he became the highest Test wicket-taker in the world, breaking the record held by Sir Richard Hadlee. Kapil's record was broken by Courtney Walsh in 1999..
  
• Kapil is the only player to have achieved the all-rounder's double of 4,000 Test runs and 400 Test wickets.
  
• Kapil holds the record for the most innings in a complete career (184) without being run out.
  
• He is the youngest test cricketer to take 300 wickets( 27 years 2days)
  

ODI cricket:

• In 1988, Kapil overtook Joel Garner to become the highest wicket-taker in ODI cricket. His final career tally of 253 wickets remained a record until it was broken by Wasim Akram in 1994.
  
• According to the ICC cricket ratings for all-rounders in ODI cricket,Kapil's peak rating of 631 is the highest rating ever achieved. He reached this mark on 22 March 1985 after a World Series final against Pakistan in Australia.
  

Awards:

1979–80 – Arjuna Award

1982 – Padma Shri

1983 – Wisden Cricketer of the Year

1991 – Padma Bhushan

2002 – Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century

2010 – ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

2013 - The 25 Greatest Global Living Legends In India by NDTV 

2013 - CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award(announced)

Honour:

2008-Lieutenant Colonel