Full Name: Kapildev Ramlal Nikhanj
Born: January 6, 1959, Chandigarh
Current Age: 52 Years 33 Days
Major Teams: India, Haryana, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire
Batting Style: Right-Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right-Arm Fast-MediumMat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Avg. | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 6s | Ct | St | |
Tests | 131 | 184 | 15 | 5248 | 163 | 31.05 | - | - | 8 | 27 | 61 | 64 | 0 |
ODI | 225 | 198 | 39 | 3783 | 175* | 23.79 | 3979 | 95.07 | 1 | 14 | - | 71 | 0 |
First-Class | 275 | 384 | 39 | 11356 | 193 | 32.91 | - | - | 18 | 56 | - | 192 | 0 |
List A | 310 | 270 | 47 | 5481 | 175* | 24.57 | - | - | 2 | 23 | - | 99 | 0 |
Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Avg. | Econ | SR | 4W | 5W | 10 | |
Tests | 131 | 227 | 27740 | 12867 | 434 | 9/83 | 11/146 | 29.64 | 2.78 | 63.9 | 17 | 23 | 2 |
ODI | 225 | 221 | 11202 | 6945 | 253 | 5/43 | 5/43 | 27.45 | 3.71 | 44.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
First-Class | 275 | - | 48853 | 22626 | 835 | 9/83 | - | 27.09 | 2.77 | 58.5 | - | 39 | 3 |
List A | 310 | - | 14947 | 9161 | 335 | 5/43 | 5/43 | 27.34 | 3.67 | 44.6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Career Statistics
Test Debut: Pakistan v India at Faisalabad, Oct 16-21, 1978
Last Test: New Zealand v India at Hamilton, Mar 19-23, 1994
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ODI Debut: Pakistan v India at Quetta, Oct 1, 1978
Last ODI: India v West Indies at Faridabad, Oct 17, 1994
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First-Class Span: 1975-1994
List A Span: 1977-1995--------------
Kapil Dev Profile
Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (born 6 January 1959, Chandigarh), 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 was also India's national cricket coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000.
Kapil Dev was the greatest pace bowler India has produced, and their greatest fast-bowling allrounder. If he had played at any other time - not when Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were contemporaries - he would surely have been recognised as the best allrounder in the world. In any case he did enough to be voted India's Cricketer of the Century during 2002, ahead of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. His greatest feats were to lead India almost jauntily, and by his all-round example, to the 1983 World Cup, and to take the world-record aggregate of Test wickets from Hadlee. It was the stamina of the marathon runner that took him finally to 431 wickets and only a yard beyond. He might not have been quite the bowling equal of Imran, Hadlee or Botham at his best, and his strike rate was less than four wickets per Test, but he was still outstanding in his accuracy and ability to swing the ball, usually away from right-handers. And he could hit a ball even more brilliantly than he bowled it, with uncomplicated flair.
Kapil had a rather ordinary stint as India's coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000. Att the height of the match-fixing allegation by Manoj Prabhakar - a charge that was subsequently dismissed - Kapil resigned as coach. Hurt by the betting controversy, he announced that he was leaving the game. However, he returned from a significantly quiet period when Wisden named him their Indian Cricketer of the Century. He won, and then returned to cricket as a bowling consultant and served as chairman of National Cricket Academy for two years.
Childhood Session
Kapil dev born in a Punjabi family to Ram Lal Nikhanj and Raj Kumari Lajwanti. Kapil Dev was the sixth of seven siblings. His parents had emigrated from a Kahuta village near Rawalpindi during Partition, whereafter Ram Lal Nikhanj settled in Chandigarh and into a prosperous building and timber business. Kapil Dev was a student at DAV School and joined Desh Prem Azad in 1971.
Domestic Cricket 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.
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.
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.
For the 1978–79 season, Haryana had a repeat encounter with Bengal in the pre-quarterfinal match after a lackluster bowling season from Kapil Dev (12 wickets from 4 matches), riding on the performance of the season's leading wicket-taker – Rajinder Kaul. Kapil Dev however scored 2 half-centuries in the group stage matches. In the pre-quarterfinal match, he rose to the occasion by taking a 5-wicket haul in the first innings. Poor batting by Haryana in the second innings meant Bengal could avenge their loss from 2 seasons back by scoring the required 161 runs for the loss of just 4 wickets. Kapil Dev stood out in the Irani Trophy match scoring 62 runs coming in at number 8. He also took 5 catches in the game where Karnataka was defeated by the Rest of India XI. Kapil Dev arrived in the national spotlight with a trademark standout performance in the finals of the Duleep Trophy taking a first innings haul of 7/65 in 24 overs. Kapil was included in the North Zone squad for Deodhar Trophy and Wills Trophy for the first time. He played his first Test match in the season against Pakistan
In the 1979–80 season, Kapil showed his batting talent with a maiden century against Delhi when he scored his career best 193. In the pre-quarterfinal match, where he captained Haryana for the first time against Uttar Pradesh, he took a five wicket haul in the second innings to advance to quarter finals where they lost to Karnataka. With Kapil cementing his place in the Indian national squad, his appearances in domestic matches dwindled.
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.
International career
Early Years (1978–1982)
Kapil made his Test cricket debut in Faisalabad, 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 outswinger. 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 Test match at National Stadium, Karachi, although India lost the match and the series 2–0. In the ensuring series against a visiting West Indies team, he scored his maiden Test century (126) at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi in just 124 balls and had a steady bowling performance (17 wickets at 33.00). Ominous signs of Kapil's liking for England showed up in the ensuring series, his first outside the sub-continent. Kapil picked up his first 5-wicket haul and all of England's wickets, although it came at a huge cost (48 overs and 146 runs conceded) as England scored a mammoth 633 and won the match comfortably. Kapil finished the series with 16 wickets though his batting haul of 45 runs (Average: 7.5) was unimpressive. His debut in ODI Cricket happened in the earlier tour of Pakistan where his individual performance was ordinary and it stayed the same as both Kapil and India had a poor campaign at the 1979 Cricket World Cup.
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 (Now Mumbai) 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 (Now Chennai).[14] 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 (although Ian Botham took just 21 matches to achieve the same feat) and finished the series with 32 wickets (Ave: 17.68) and 278 runs that included 2 fifties.
India's tour of Australia in 1980–81 had the looks of the familiar Indian series as India were 1–0 down and were defending a meagre 143 runs and Kapil Dev virtually ruled out with a groin injury. When Australia finished the fourth day at 18/3, Kapil willed himself to play the final day with pain-killing injections and removed the dangerous Australia middle order. Kapil won the match for India with the innings bowling performance of 16.4–4–28–5, a bowling performance that figures in his five best bowling performance. During the Australian tour, he scored his first fifty in ODIs against New Zealand at Brisbane. Somehow India's Test cricket sensation was unable to adjust to ODI cricket and had a career start of 278 runs (Average: 17.38) and 17 wickets after 16 ODI matches.
A dismal New Zealand tour later, Kapil Dev was ready for the 1981–82 home series against England where his five-wicket haul won the first test at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay (Now Mumbai). Kapil scored 318 runs (Average: 53, 1 century, 1 fifty) and took 22 wickets (2 5-wicket hauls) and walked away with the Man of the Series honours.[17] England saw more of Kapil in the ensuing series at home against the Indian cricket team in the 1982 season when he opened with a 5-wicket haul and 130 runs in a losing cause at Lord's. Kapil Dev finished the 3-match series with 292 runs (Ave: 73, 3 fifties) and 10 Wickets and bagged the Man of the Series again.
Facing Sri Lanka for the first time, Kapil helped himself to a five-wicket haul to kick start the 1982–83 season. In the following tour to Pakistan, Kapil and Mohinder Amarnath were the only bright spots in a series dominated by rival all-rounder Imran Khan (40 wickets and 1 century). Kapil took a 5/102 haul in the second Test at National Stadium, Karachi, 7/220 in the third Test at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad and 8/85 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore while he received little support from other team members. After this disastrous tour, Kapil was made the captain of the Indian cricket team in place of Sunil Gavaskar.
Captain: 1983 World Cup Champions (1982–1984)
Kapil Dev debuted as India's captain in the 1982–83 season against Sri Lanka (before the Pakistan tour) when Gavaskar was rested. His first assignment as regular captain was the tour of West Indies, where the biggest accomplishment was a lone ODI victory. Kapil (72) and Gavaskar (90) led India to a huge score – 282/5 in 47 overs and Kapil's 2 wickets aided India to restrict West Indies for 255 and a victory that Indian cricketers claim gave them the confidence to face the West Indies team in 1983 Cricket World Cup. Overall, Kapil Dev had a good series in West Indies as he scored a century to save the second test match as well as picking up 17 wickets (Average: 24.94).
1983 World Cup Performance
Kapil entered the World Cup with an ordinary individual record – 32 Matches, 608 Runs (Average: 21), 34 wickets. India's solitary victory in the previous two World Cups was against East Africa in 1975. Riding on Yashpal Sharma (89 Runs), Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri (3 wickets each), India inflicted the West Indies' first-ever defeat in the World Cup. Following a victory against Zimbabwe, India lost the next two matches – Australia (despite Kapil Dev's best career figures of 5/43) and West Indies. India now needed victories against Australia and Zimbabwe to advance to semi-finals.
India faced Zimbabwe at Nevill Ground, Royal Tunbridge Wells on 18 June 1983 under overcast conditions. India won the toss and elected to bat. Disaster struck as the top order started a procession back to the dressing room as Gavaskar (0), Kris Srikkanth (0), Mohinder Amarnath (5) and Sandeep Patil (1) leaving India at a precarious 9/4 that turned to 17/5 when Yashpal Sharma (9) was dismissed. Batting with the lower order batsmen, Kapil Dev stabilized the side with a 60-run partnership with Roger Binny (22 runs) and a 62-run partnership with Madan Lal. When Syed Kirmani walked in at 140/8, Kapil Dev had scored his half-century and went on to score his century off 100 balls. Together with Kirmani (22 runs), Kapil put on an unbeaten 126 runs for the 9th wicket – a world record that stood unbroken for 27 years (10000 days), and finished not out with 175 runs off 138 balls, an innings that included 16 boundaries and 6 sixes. The innings figures in the Top 10 ODI Batting Performances compiled by Wisden in February 2002 at No. 4. India won the match by 31 runs. After a win against Australia, India entered the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals India faced the English cricket team. Kapil helped curtail the lower-order after England lost regular wickets to Roger Binny and Mohinder Amarnath. He took 3 wickets as India limited England to 213 and the middle order of Mohinder Amarnath (46 runs), Yashpal Sharma (61), Sandeep Patil (51*) ensured victory and entry into the finals to take on the mighty West Indies cricket team who were looking for a hat-trick of World Cup titles. West Indies restricted India for 183 runs, with only Kris Srikkanth (38 runs) providing some scoring relief. Despite losing Gordon Greenidge, West Indies steadied their innings to 57/2 on the back of quick scoring by Viv Richards and looked comfortable. Richards played one too many aggressive shots when he skied a pull shot from Madan Lal that Kapil caught at deep square leg after running for over 20 yards. The catch is attributed as the turning point in the 1983 WC Final and is regarded as one of the finest in ODI Cricket. West Indies collapsed from 50/1 to 76/6 and finally were bowled out for 140 with Kapil picking up the wicket of Andy Roberts. Kapil Dev had upset Clive Lloyd's West Indies to win their maiden and to-date only World Cup and he led from the front with 303 runs (Average: 60.6), 12 wickets (Average: 20.41) and 7 catches in 8 matches – a truly all-round performance.
Post World Cup
After the World Cup, India hosted the West Indies cricket team and felt their fury as the tourists won the Test series 3–0 and the ODI Series 6–0. Kapil Dev achieved his best test bowling performance in a loss at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad with a return of 9/83.[32] His bowling performance in the test and ODI series was let down by his poor batting performance. The selectors ended the Kapil's reign by reappointing Gavaskar as captain in early 1984.
Difficult captaincy
Kapil was reappointed captain in March 1985, and guided India on a Test series win over England on their tour in 1986. This period saw one of the most famous matches played during his reign, the second Tied Test, in which he was named joint-man of the match with Australian batsman Dean Jones.
Kapil was retained as captain for the 1987 Cricket 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 "Kapil Dev's sportsmanship proved the deciding factor in a close-run match".[33] 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 exaggarated. Above all the controversy, Kapil's performance was better when he was the Captain, than as a player underline that, he enjoyed and suited captaincy.
Kapil Dev’s Bowling Style
By the end of 1983, Kapil already had about 250 Test wickets in just five years and looked well on his way to becoming one of the most prolific wicket-takers ever. However, his bowling declined following knee surgery in 1984, as he lost some of his majestic jump at the crease. Despite this setback, he never missed playing a single test or one-day game on fitness grounds (save for his disciplinary ouster in the 3rd test at Calcutta during the 1984/85 series against England). He continued to be effective, if not devastating, for another ten years and became the second bowler ever to take 400 wickets in Test cricket in 1991–92 when he took Mark Taylor's wicket in a home series versus Australia.
Final years
Kapil continued as India's lead pace bowler under a succession of captains in the early 1990s. 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. This match also featured the highest test score by an Englishman, 333 by Graham Gooch. The incident was cited by Richie Benaud as an example of Kapil's entertainment value, and contributed to him selecting Kapil as one of the six greatest all-rounders of all time, ahead of such luminaries as Wasim Akram and Andrew Flintoff. He was also cited by umpire Dickie Bird as being one of the greatest all-rounders of all-time.
He also became a valuable batsman in the ODI version of the game, being used as a pinch-hitter to accelerate the run-scoring rate, usually in the final ten overs, and relied upon to stabilise the innings in lieu of a collapse. He played in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, which was his last, under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin. He led the bowling attack with younger talents like Javagal Srinath and Manoj Prabhakar, who would eventually succeed him as India's leading pace bowlers. He formally retired in 1993, after formally breaking Richard Hadlee's record for most Test wickets - Hadlee sent a message of congratulations immediately after Kapil took the record-breaking wicket.
Personal Life
He was introduced to Romi Bhatia by a common friend in 1979 and proposed to her in 1980. The couple married in 1980 and had a daughter, Amiya Dev, on 16 January 1996.
After retirement from cricket in 1994, Kapil Dev took up golf. Kapil was the only Asian founding member of Laureus Foundation in 2000. Ian Botham and Viv Richards were the other two cricketers on the founding member council of 40. Steve Waugh was added to the Academy members in 2006 when it was expanded from 40 to 42. He has written three autobiographical works. By God's Decree came out in 1985 and Cricket my style in 1987. He released his most recent autobiography, titled Straight from the Heart in 2004 (ISBN 1403-92227-6).
Endorsement
Kapil Dev has been actively courted by Indian businesses during and after his cricketing days as brand ambassador for their products because of the charisma that personifies the cricketer. Though not the first Indian cricketer to endorse brands, he was the first star brand on Indian Television with his Palmolive da jawab nahin. He also appears consistently on Headlines Today as a guest speaker. Other endorsments include:
* Pamolive Shaving cream
* BSA-SLR bicycles
* Hero Honda bikes
* Hajmola – 1995
* Crocin Pain Relief – 2005
* Boost (1980s & 1990s)
* Sony SET Max – 2002
* Birla Sun-Life Insurance – 2006
* Chadha Group – 2006
* Kinetic – 2002
* Eastman Group – 2007
* Standard Chartered – 2003
* Rado – 2000
* Jaypee Greens – 2002
* Omaxe Construction – 2003
* Haier – 2007
Kapil Dev’s Cricket 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.
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.
Achievements
* 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
