Sachin Tendulkar - The Pinnacle Of Indian Cricket
When we think of Indian cricket and its moments of glory since the days of independence, only one..
Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj is the child of Ram Lal Nikhanj and Raj Kumari Lajwanti. He is the sixth of their seven children. They had migrated from a village near Rawalpindi in Pakistan and came to settle down in Chandigarh. He was born on 6th January 1959.
Kapil Dev has always been a fitness enthusiast. He ran from Chandigarh to Ambala several times. He barged into the Indian national side on his own merit as a right arm medium fast pace bowler in 1979 for the series against Pakistan. India was badly in need of a good pace bowler apart from Madan Lal and Karsan Ghavri. During that series, he made the fastest test half century off just thirty three balls and got the `man of the series’ award. After Abed Ali’s retirement, India was always short of a good medium fast pace bowler who could trouble batsmen with his swing bowling. Kapil’s action was elegant and he possessed an efficient out swinger, making him India’s main strike bowler throughout his tenure of fifteen years. During the nineteen eighties, he developed a good in swinger and a yorker to trouble many tail enders like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis did later. He grew as a batsman too over the ages and became a natural striker. He could hook and lift the ball effortlessly with his six foot reach. In a team of diminutive masters, he was a tall giant to look up to.
Kapil Dev was also known as the `Haryana Hurricane’. He was an aggressive player both with the bat and the ball. He has helped India in many tough situations by attacking and taking the game to the opposition. His highest contribution has been during the world cup series in England in 1983 when he lifted India after a disastrous start of 17/5 in the crucial game against Zimbabwe to score an unbeaten 175 with a stellar support from Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani to help India win an almost impossible game. He motivated the team so much with this performance of his as well as his unbelievably memorable catch to take out Sir Vivian Richards in the final that India went on to become the world cup champions. He made the entire country proud with his achievement along with a superb team effort. When given the responsibility of leading India in the world cup in 1983, he stood up and delivered beyond all expectations. This feat has only been managed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he motivated and led India from the front to a world cup victory after twenty eight long years last month.
Kapil Dev has been declared as the `Indian Cricketer of the Century’ by Wisden in 2002. He has been India’s national Coach between October 1999 and August 2000. He retired in 1994 after becoming the world record holder for highest number of wickets taken in tests. This was a record that was eclipsed by Courtney Walsh, Anil Kumble, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and the current holder, Muttiah Muralidharan.
Kapil Dev has won the Arjuna Award in 1980. He has 8 test centuries and 434 test wickets. He is the only player in the history of cricket to take more than 400 test wickets and score more than 5,000 runs. He finished with 5,248 runs. In one days, he scored 3,783 runs, making him India’s greatest all rounder.
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