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Kapil Dev is a former Indian Cricketer and Captain. Kapil is regarded as one of the best All-rounder of the Game. He was a fast bowler and an aggressive lower-middle order Batsmen known for his hard-hitting.
He was well known for his lethal outswing deliveries, he was actually India’s first genuine fast bowler who lead the Country’s Bowling attack for two decades.
Dev under his Captaincy led the Indian side to glory when India won the first World Cup in 1983.
In 2002, Kapil Dev was named as the Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden.
Personal Information
| Name | Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj |
| Born | 06 January 1959 Chandigarh |
| Age | 62 |
| Wife | Romi Bhatia |
| Nickname | The Haryana Hurricane, Paaji |
| Batting Style | Right-handed |
| Bowling Style | Right-arm fast-medium |
| Role | All-rounder |
| Teams | India, Haryana, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire |
International Information
| Test Debut (Cap 142) | 16 October 1978 vs Pakistan |
| ODI Debut (Cap 25) | 1 October 1978 vs Pakistan |
Kapil Dev Stats
Batting Statistics
| TEST | ODI | |
|---|---|---|
| Matches | 131 | 225 |
| Innings | 184 | 198 |
| Runs Scored | 5248 | 3783 |
| Average | 31.05 | 23.79 |
| Strike Rate | 94.76 | 95.07 |
| Highest | 163 | 175 |
| 100s | 8 | 1 |
| 50s | 27 | 14 |
| 4s | 587 | 291 |
| 6s | 61 | 67 |
| Ducks | 16 | 13 |
Bowling Statistics
| TEST | ODI | |
|---|---|---|
| Matches | 131 | 225 |
| Innings | 227 | 221 |
| Balls | 27740 | 11202 |
| Maidens | 1060 | 235 |
| Runs | 12867 | 6945 |
| Wickets | 434 | 253 |
| Economy | 2.78 | 3.72 |
| Average | 29.65 | 27.45 |
| 5W | 23 | 1 |
| 10W | 2 | 0 |
Early Life
Kapil Dev was born on 6 January 1959 in Chandigarh to Ram Lal Nikhanj and Raj Kumari Ram Lal Nikhanj. His father was a Timber merchant and they lived in Shah Yakka which is now in Okara District, Pakistan.
After Partition his parents moved to Fazilka and then to Chandigarh.
Kapil Dev studied at D.A.V. School.
Career
Domestic Career
Kapil Dev made his debut in November 1975 for Haryana against Punjab. He had an impressive Debut, helping Haryana to victory by claiming a 6 Wickets haul. He had 121 Wickets on his name in 30 matches at the end of the season.
Dev showed his ability with the bat in the 1979-80 Season when he scored his maiden First-class Hundred against Delhi. He scored 193 Runs which was his career-best. In this season he captained Haryana for the first time in the pre-quarterfinal match against Uttar Pradesh.
In the 1990-91 Ranji Season, Haryana had an impressive performance. In the semi-finals against Bengal Dev scored 141 runs and helped Haryana to achieve a massive total of 605 Runs. He also took 5 Wickets and led his team to the finals.
The finals of 1991 was a remarkable final of the Ranji Trophy. It included a lot of international players including Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Ajay Jadeja, and Vijay Yadav in the Haryana side and Sachin Tendulkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Vinod Kambli, Dilip Vengsarkar, Salil Ankola, Chandrakant Pandit, Abey Kuruvilla representing the Bombay Cricket Team.
In the first innings, Haryana scored 522 runs and restricted Bombay for 410 with Dev having 3 Wickets. In the second Innings crucial 41 runs from Dev and 60 runs from Banerjee took Haryana to 242, setting a target of 355 runs for Bombay.
Bombay showed an impressive performance but were just short of 3 Runs making Haryana the Champions. It was Kapil’s Maiden and only Ranji Trophy.
In County, Kapil Dev represented Northamptonshire in 1981, 1982, and 1983 season and later Represented Worcestershire for 1984 and 1985 season.
Kapil played a total of 40 County Matches. He scored 2,312 runs in 64 innings including 4 Centuries and 14 half-centuries and took 103 Wickets.
International Career
Kapil Dev made his International Debut in Test Cricket on 16 October 1978 against Pakistan in Faisalabad. He had an unimpressive debut with his numbers not contributing much. Although he kept the Pakistani Batsmen in check with his pace and Bouncers that hit them on their helmets.
Sadiq Mohammad was Kapil’s first Wicket which he took with his trademark outswinger.
He showcased his talent in the 3rd Test against Pakistan in National Stadium, Karachi, where he scored India’s fastest test half-century in just 33 balls in each of the innings.
He made his ODI debut in the same Pakistan Series where he had an ordinary performance.
He scored his maiden Test 100 (126 from 124 balls) at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi against West Indies.
In the 6 Test Match home series against Pakistan in 1979-80, Dev led India to 2 victories. Once by scoring 69 with the bat at Wankhede stadium And another with the bat and ball by taking 10 Wicket haul in a match (4/90 in the first innings and 7/56 in the second innings) and scoring 84 in 98 balls at Chepauk.
Dev rates this all-round performance as his career-best. He ended the series with 32 Wickets and 278 Runs including 2 fifties.
During India’s tour of Australia in 1980-81. India was down 1- 0 and defending 143 runs, Dev was virtually ruled out with groin injury but he played the final day by taking pain-killing injections and destructed the Australian middle order by taking 5 Wickets and India won the match.
He score his first ODI fifty against New Zealand when he traveled to Australia. His numbers in ODI cricket were not that impressive, he had scored 278 runs at an average of 17.37 with 17 Wickets in 16 Matches.
In the1981-82, home series against England Dev’s Performance earned him the Man Of the Series Award. He scored 318 runs including 1 Century and 1 half-century with an average of 53 and took 22 Wickets including 2 5-wicket hauls.
Dev debuted as India’s Captain against Sri Lanka in the 1982-83 Season when Gavaskar was rested. After the tour of Sri Lanka followed the tour of Pakistan and due to the disastrous tour of Pakistan Kapil Dev was appointed as the Captain of the National side replacing Sunil Gavaskar.
As a regular captain, his first assignment was the tour of the West Indies where his biggest achievement was the lone ODI victory which Indian players claim gave them the confidence to face the West Indies in the 1983 World Cup.
1983 World Cup
Dev entered the World Cup with ordinary records he had played 32 matches and scored 608 runs (average 21) and had taken 34 Wickets.
India started the World Cup campaign with a bang by registering 2 victories, First against West Indies and the second against Zimbabwe. Following the 2 victories, India was defeated by Australia and West Indies which meant India now needed victories against Zimbabwe and Australia to qualify for the Semi-finals.
India was in serious trouble against Zimbabwe, when they were lagging behind Kapil Dev stood up and scored a Century of 100 balls. Kapil Dev and Kirmani put up an unbeaten 126 run partnership for the 9th Wicket. A record that stood unbeaten for 27 years. Dev finished the Innings with a score of 175* in 138 balls an innings that included 16 boundaries and 6 sixes. India went on to win that match by 31 runs.
In the Semi-Finals against England, India restricted the English men to 213 and the Indian middle-order ensured that India moves on to the final.
India vs West Indies in the final, West Indies a team who were the champions of previous 2 editions and wanted to make it a hat-trick.
West Indies restricted India for just 183 runs. Despite losing Gordon Greenidge early the West steadied their innings to 57/2. Viv Richards was playing very aggressively. Viv Richards played a pull shot in the air of Madan Lal’s ball that Dev caught at the deep squad leg after running backward for about 20 yards. This catch is considered a turning point in the 1983 World Cup and is also considered one of the finest catches in ODI cricket.
West Indies collapsed from a situation of 50/1 to 76/6 and were bowled out for 140 with Dev taking the Wicket of Andy Roberts.
Kapil Dev ended the World Cup with 303 runs with an average of 60.6, he picked 12 Wickets and took 7 catches in 8 matches.
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Post World Cup
After the World Cup Dev’s performance was let down and Sunil Gavaskar was again appointed as a captain at the start of 1984.
Dev was again given the Captain duty in March 1985 when he guided India to a Test series win against England in 1986.
He continued his captaincy in the 1987 World Cup, where India went on till the Semi-Finals and lost to England. After that Kapil Dev never captained India again.
He played the 1992 Cricket World Cup under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin, which was Dev’s last World Cup.
Retirement and After Life
Kapil Dev retired in 1994, after that he was appointed as India’s coach in 1999. His role as a coach was very disappointing since India won just one test match at home against New Zealand.
In his term, India had 2 major series losses, one in Australia (3-0) and another home series against South Africa (2-0).
Dev was accused of fixing allegation which was later dismissed. After the betting controversy, Dev resigned his position as National Coach.
Dev was nominated as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy for a term of 2-years in October 2006.
On September 24, 2008, Dev joined the Indian Territorial Army and was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel by Chief of the Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor. He joined as an honorary officer.
He was appointed as the first chancellor of the Sports University of Haryana in 2019.
83 Movie
83 is a movie based on Kapil Dev Biography and the team that had won the 1983 World Cup. The film storyline is set around India’s journey in the 1983 World Cup and how they won the first World Cup for India by dominating the two times Champions West Indies.
In September 2017, Reliance Entertainment and Vibri Media announced the film. The shooting began on 5th June 2019 in England and was scheduled for release on 10 April 2020.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the release was postponed and the film was said to be released on Christmas 2020. This could not happen due to the situation of COVID-19 in India and was yet again postponed and 83 Movie got a new release date of 4 June 2021. Unfortunately, the release was again postponed and the movie is now set to hit the big screen on the 24th of December 2021.
83 is directed by Kabir Khan. Ranveer Singh will play the lead role of Kapil Dev in the movie.
Have a look at the trailer of the film 83. It shows the journey of the Indian team which was underestimated by almost everyone but it was the Indian captain Kapil Dev who believed in himself and his team and lead the team to glory in the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
Achievements, Records and Honour
- One of the best achievements of Kapil Dev is leading India to the maiden World Cup title that changed the Indian Cricket future.
- Became the Highest test Wicket taker in the world in 1994 by breaking Sir Richard Hadlee’s record. Dev’s record was later broken by Courtney Walsh in 1999.
- The only player to achieve 4,000 Test runs and 400 Test Wickets.
- Highest ODI score (175*) when batting at number 6 position as well in World Cup history.
- Most number of balls in an ODI inning when batting at number six position in history(138, tied with Neil McCallum).
- As a Captain, Best Bowling figures in an innings of a test match(9/83). In fact, he is the only captain to take 9 wicket haul in a test innings.
- In 1979-80 Kapil Dev was awarded the Arjuna Award, an award given to recognize outstanding achievement in sports.
- In 1982 Awarded with Padma Shree, the fourth-highest civilian award in India.
- In 1983 honored with Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
- In 1991 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India.
- In 2002, Kapil Dev was named the Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden.
- In 2010 ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.