Vineet SharmaIndia was given a present of an exceptional soul on the 6th of January, 50 years ago. It was the birth of Kapil Dev, the legend who changed the face of Indian cricket and brought glory to the nation with his feats. A remarkable man with a remarkable career, Kapil became the first andf the only captain till today to lift the coveted World Cup in 1983. His stature as arguably one of the best all-roundres of the modern day game was cemented further when he got the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century award.
He has eight Man of the Match awards and four Man of the Series awards in Test cricket to his name, a feat rarely achieved by an Indian all-rounder. His 175* knock against Zimbabwe is considered as one of the best innings by a player in the World Cup and it was his grit and determination that got us the ultimate prize in 83.
The man’s achievemnets have gone beyond the cricket field and on September 24, 2008 he joined the Indian Territorial Army and was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel.
On the cricket field, the prolific all-rounder is one of those rare flashes of brilliance who managed to scalp over 400 batsmen and score over 4000 runs.
A great person who has been known to help all and even go out of his way to nurture talent, we wish Kapil Dev all the best for his second innings that will take him to a century well deserved.
Kapil Dev: Timeline1959: Born to Ram Lal Nikhanj and Raj Kumari Lajwanti in Chandigarh on 6th January.
1971: Joined Desh Prem Azad.
1975: Made his Ranji debut – for Haryana v Punjab at Rohtak.
1977: Took his maiden 10-wicket haul in first-class cricket (v Services at Rohtak). With 23 wickets in 4 matches in Ranji Trophy, he was selected for the Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Wills Trophy matches.
1978: Made his ODI debut – against Pakistan at Quetta.
Made his Test debut - against Pakistan at Faisalabad.
Scored his maiden fifty in Test cricket – v Pakistan at Karachi- off just 33 deliveries.
1979: Scored his maiden century in Test cricket – an unbeaten 126 against West Indies at Delhi.
Took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket – against England at Birmingham.
1980: Married Romi Bhatia.
Completed the allround double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in his 25th Test.
1981: Defending 143 runs with him ruled out with a groin injury, he played the final day with pain-killing injections. Won the match for India with the innings bowling performance of 16.4-4-28-5
1982: Led India for the first time in a ODI – against Sri Lanka at Amritsar.
Scored India’s fastest fifty in Test cricket (50 off 30 balls)
1983: Took 7 for 220 in the first innings of the third Test against Pakistan at Faisalabad to become the first Indian bowler to concede 200 or more runs in an innings against Pakistan.
Played his 50th Test against West Indies in the second Test at Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Scored a 22-ball fifty against West Indies at Berbice, then the fastest fifty by an Indian in ODIs.
India started their World Cup campaign under Kapil Dev’s leadership.
Kapil returned 5-43 against Australia at Nottingham to become first Indian bowler to take five wickets in a ODI
Scored an unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells- first century by an Indian in this form of cricket. Kapil hit these 175 runs off 138 balls, with 16 fours and asix sixes as India recovered from 9 for 4, when he came to the crease, and then 17 for 5. The next highest score was Syed Kirmani’s 24 not out. The match was not covered on TV nor is there any video recording of this great innings, because of a strike by technical workers.
Became the first Indian captain to lift the World Cup as India beat West Indies by 43 runs at Lord’s.
Took 9 for 83 becoming the tenth bowler and the first captain to take nine wickets in a Test innings – v West Indies at Ahmedabad.
Completed his 1,000 runs in ODIs in his 46th match – becoming the first Indian to reach this landmark.
1984: Got dropped for the only time in his Test career on disciplinary grounds for playing a loose shot in the previous Test (against England)
1985: Passed Bishen Singh Bedi’s Indian record of 266 Test wickets against Sri Lanka at Kandy.
1986: Claimed his 100th wicket in ODIs to become the first Indian bowler to do so. He also completed the all-round double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets.
1987: Became the second player after Ian Botham to score 3,000 runs and take 300 Test wickets when he dismissed Ravi Ratnayeke in the third Test against Sri Lanka at Cuttack.
Completed his 2,000 runs in ODIs- became fourth Indian to do so after Dilip Vengsarkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Krish Srikkanth.1989: Played his 100th Test – v Pakistan at Karachi.
1990: Completed his 3,000 runs in ODIs- became fourth Indian after Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Krish Srikkanth to do so.
1991: Took a ‘broken’ hat-trick against Sri Lanka at Calcutta in Asia Cup final.His victims were Roshan Mahanama, Rumesh Ratnayake and Sanath Jayasuriya.
Kapil became first bowler in ODI history to complete 200 wickets.
1994: Equalled Richard Hadlee’s world record tally of 431 wickets when he dismissed Don Anurasiri to wrap up India’s innings victory over Sri Lanka at Bangalore.
Surpassed Richard Hadlee’s record of 431 Test wickets (then the highest in Test cricket)
Became the first bowler in ODI history to complete 250 wickets.
Kapil’s last day in international cricket on 17th October.
1999: On Kapil’s coaching debut India were bowled out for a paltry 83 against New Zealand at Mohali. India still managed to escape with a draw.
2000: Broke in a TV interview with BBC over match on fixing allegations.
2002: Voted the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century.
2007: Joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL) as the Chairman of executive board.
2008: Joined the Indian Territorial Army and was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel by General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of the Army Staff.
First Published: Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 00:00
(The views expressed by the author are personal)
