Happy Birthday Kapil Dev: Cricket fraternity sends wishes to India’s first World Cup-winning captain
His lifting of the coveted cup by beating the two-time champions West Indies encouraged millions of Indians to take up the sport.
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Kapil Dev
Former India captain Kapil Dev is arguably one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of cricket. He is the only cricketer to have amassed 5000-plus runs and 400-plus wickets in Test cricket. Apart from his individual records, he led the team to heights during his leadership tenure. Under him, India lifted their first-ever World Cup in 1983 by beating the formidable West Indies at the iconic Lord’s in England.
The cricket fraternity has started wishing the Haryana Hurricane with heartwarming messages. They are recalling the special moments, his phenomenal records, and what his aggressive approach to cricket did to India.
Check how the cricket fraternity sent their warm wishes to Kapil Dev:
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Here’s the story of Kapil Dev
As the tale goes, a 16-year-old Kapil Dev was given less good at a national cricket camp. Dev asked for more food because of a fast bowler’s requirement. But the coach replied that there was no fast bowler in India. Just a few years later, Dev emerged as India’s genuine pacer.
Born in Chandigarh, Kapil Dev lost his father, Ram Lal Nikhanj, in his teens and was brought up by his mother Rajkumari along with six other children. His mother was the first to encourage him to give his best on the field, ensuring that his son is getting nutritious food.
Just a few months before the 1983 World Cup, a 24-year-old Kapil Dev was handed the leadership role. In their first match against Zimbabwe, India’s terrible score read 9/4 when Dev entered and slammed the historic unbeaten 175 runs from 138 balls. For Dev, that was ‘the innings of a lifetime’.
He is still the youngest skipper to win a cricket World Cup to date. His lifting of the coveted cup by beating the two-time champions West Indies encouraged millions of Indians to take up the sport and one of them is the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
In his 131 Test matches, Dev scored 5248 runs with the highest score of 163. In that same number of matches, he scalped 434 wickets with the best bowling figures of 11/146.
While talking about his ODI records, he played 225 matches, amassing 3783 runs with a highest of an unbeaten 175 runs. He has 273 scalps and his best figures read 5/43.
The Haryana Hurricane has been honored with Arjuna Award and Padma Bhushan by the Indian government. He was also awarded “Indian Cricketer of the Century” by Wisden in 2002. In 2010, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
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Gouri Das
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