Ritesh Misra, Surat, 11 April 2023
India winning the world cup in 1983 changed the cricket scenario in the country, setting the stage for a sporting revolution and firmly setting the stage for India to become a cricketing superpower. While cricket is a team sport, If one cricketer can deserve a lion’s share of the credit for the triumph, it is none other than the iconic Kapil Dev.
Let me quote opening batter of the 1983 team Krish Sreekanth, “I got married and told my wife lets go for honeymoon to USA and on the way I will play world cup in England! There was no concept of practice, no concept of team meeting. Practice was, smoke a few cigarettes and go out to bat or bowl. It was Kapil Dev who told us we could win, and we could defeat the feared West Indies Team. If we won the world cup, it was due to one man – Kapil Dev.”
I have met the legend a few times. I fondly remember his engaging personality and terrific sense of humor. I had told him, “Sir, you are the favourite all time cricketer of both my wife and my mother.” He instantly replied with a huge smile, “aap bhi bahut achche spinner lag rahe ho…..saas bahu ka agreement kara diye hain first time in the world!” His most famous funny comment, of course in public, was when he was asked when will India have another Kapil Dev, and he said, “Mother is 65, father is no more, not possible!”
Let us recollect the cricketing journey of our icon whose bowling was poetry and batting was pure talent. His fielding was electric as well and he probably took the most famous catch in the history of Indian cricket when he caught Viv Richards off Madan Lal’s bowling in the 1983 world cup finals, which helped India win against Clive Lloyd’s mighty West Indies. The West Indians seemed set for a 3rd world cup win in a row, but India pulled off a famous win, which changed cricket history forever.
Kapil is definitely the best all-rounder ever to play for India. In fact, he is one of the best all-rounders ever to play cricket and is the only player in the history of the game to have taken more than 400 Test wickets and score more than 5000 Test runs.
Let us chronicle some of his incredible achievements.
Kapil’s Devils win 1983 Cricket World Cup
In 1983, the Indian team was a rank outsider and expected to only make up the numbers. Against all odds, they not only entered the final but also defeated the mighty West Indians. Kapil’s individual stamp of brilliance, apart from his captaincy, was seen throughout the tournament. His 175 not out vs Zimbabwe when India was tottering at 17 for 5 at one point in the game, is one of the best ODI innings ever. His catch of Viv Richards off Madan Lal’s bowling was the turning point of the final and came at a point when Viv was threatening to run away with the match. Kapil had 303 runs in the tournament @ 60.6, 12 wickets @ 20.41, and 7 catches for an incredibly successful tournament personally. The world cup win is for millions of Indians the most exhilarating cricketing moment of their lives and it also ushered in a cricketing revolution in the country.
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame Member
He is one of only 7 Indian cricketers to be in the ICC Cricket Hall of fame, the others being Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Vinoo Mankad.
Wisden Indian cricketer of the century
There were 16 cricketers who were shortlisted and then the shortlist came down to six – Tiger Pataudi, CK Nayudu, Vinoo Mankad, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Kapil. The final shortlist was Sunny, Sachin, and Kapil and in the words of Viv Richards, it was like a 100 meter dash with three champions bunched together. Well, it was Kapil who won the award and he called it his finest hour. He thanked his family and said that he was there because of them, his first captain Bishan Singh Bedi, and his champion Guru Sunil Gavaskar. Sachin spoke on the occasion and said that he started playing serious cricket around the time Kapil’s team won the 1983 world cup which was a big inspiration for him.
India’s 2 Nil Win vs England in 1986
This was and still is one of India’s best-ever performances abroad and it came under Kapil’s captaincy. India won the Test series 2 Nil. Stellar performances for India were by Dilip Vengsarkar who was the man of the series, by Chetan Sharma, and by Kapil himself. Colonel and Kapil also were the man of the match in one match each in the 2 Indian wins. Kapil himself rates this series as one of his favorite cricketing moments.
Highest wicket-taker
Hashan Tillekaratne, caught Sanjay Manjrekar, bowled Kapil Dev for 5. This was the 432nd test wicket for Kapil on 8th February 1994, which took him beyond Richard Hadlee’s world record of 431 wickets. 432 balloons were released in the air and one minute’s standing ovation was given to the great man. India won the Test as well, and it was India’s 9th win in a row. Hadlee congratulated Kapil by saying it was a special moment for world cricket, though he felt a bit sad his record was broken. He predicted that Shane Warne would break the record and be the first to reach 500 wickets. Well, Warne did reach that and even greater heights, but it was Courtney Walsh who broke Kapil’s record six years later and also was the first to breach the 500 mark. Warne later broke the record of Walsh and currently it’s held by Murali.
Four Consecutive Sixes off Eddie Hemmings
A brilliant 300 by Graham Gooch had taken England to 633 and India had lost 9 wickets with still 24 required to avoid the follow on. Kapil was batting on 53 and had Hirwani for company. In an incredible assault, Kapil hit 4 consecutive sixes and India avoided the follow-on. Interestingly, Hirwani was out the very next ball! India still lost the match, but for Indian fans, the feat is one to fondly remember.
Tied Test
This was played at Chennai from Sept 18-22, 1986. Australia scored 574 with an epic 210 by Dean Jones and Allan Border contributing 106. In reply, India scored 397 though at one point they were 220/6. This was primarily due to Kapil’s blistering 100. His 119 in 138 balls is considered one of the best tons of his career. Australia set India 348 to win and in a thrilling finish, India were 347 all out, which was only the second tied Test in the history of test match cricket. Greg Matthews took 10 wickets in the match. Dean Jones and Kapil were joint men of the match.
Ranji Championship of 1990-91
The final between Bombay and Haryana is universally acknowledged as the greatest Ranji final in the history of the championship. Bombay had as many as 8 India players including Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Chandrakant Pandit, Sachin Tendulkar, Lalchand Rajput, Salil Ankola, Abey Kuruvilla, and Raju Kulkarni. Haryana, led by Kapil, had Chetan Sharma, Ajay Jadeja, and Vijay Yadav. In a thrilling last day’s play, Haryana won by just 2 runs and Vengsarkar was stranded at 139 and was seen in tears after playing one of the best first class innings ever seen on Indian soil. For Kapil, it was his only Ranji triumph and it came against an amazingly formidable Bombay team.
Kapil has given us many memorable cricketing moments and the ones listed above are just illustrative and not exhaustive. In any case, statistics cannot do justice to the sheer joy he imparted, the exuberance he displayed, and the inspiration he provided. Will there be another Kapil Dev? For me, the answer is NO.
Signing off with a Kapil Dev memory by his great friend and rival, Richard Hadlee who says that Kapil was the most confident cricketer he has ever played with. Once Kapil said that he will get a hundred. However, he did not get to bat till late in the day and was seven not out at the end of the day’s play. He said with a grin, “I am only 93 short!” The legend duly got his ton the next day!! Incredible, isn’t it?
Kapil Dev Bhai, you are our greatest cricketing icon and a national treasure…..
