Kapil Dev: The Legendary All-Rounder of Indian Cricket
Kapil Dev is an Indian former cricketer. The Indian government gave him a Padma Bhushan in 1991.
Life and Career
Kapil Dev was born on 6 January 1959 in Chandigarh, Punjab, India. He completed his schooling at D.A.V. School. When he was 16, he made his debut for Haryana, taking six wickets and leading them to victory over Punjab. When he took eight wickets for Haryana against Jammu & Kashmir in 1976-77, he helped Haryana win. He then made 7/20 in 9 overs in the second innings of the pre-quarterfinals against Bengal. Among his other scores, he took 8/38 against the Services. In addition to the Duleep Trophy, he won the Irani Trophy and the Wills Trophy.
Dev didn’t have a great season in 1978-79 and Haryana got another shot at Bengal in the pre-quarterfinal match. After a standout performance in the finals of the Duleep Trophy, he came to national attention with a 7/65 in 24 overs first-innings haul. In his first Deodhar Trophy and Wills Trophy, he was selected.
The bowling of Chetan Sharma and the batsmanship of Amarjit Kaypee led Haryana to the Ranji semi-finals in 1990-91. In the semi-final against Bengal, he was the star with 141 runs and 5 wickets for his team. An important 41 from Dev and a 60 from Banerjee lifted Haryana to 242 runs in the final against Bombay, setting them a target of 355 runs. Tendulkar (96) and Vengsarkar (139) also fought back for Bombay after the initial wickets fell. Tendulkar got out after 102 runs and Haryana won the final. This was Dev’s first and only Ranji Trophy title.
He played his first Test series against Pakistan, troubled them with his speed and bounce, and hit a fifty in 33 balls. At the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi, he hit his first Test ton. Following that, he had 16 wickets in an overseas series against England. He made his debut as an Indian captain against Sri Lanka in 1982–83.
In 1983, he led India to the World Cup in England. India qualified for too final. India won the 1983 World Cup after beating the West Indies in the final. There was such a craze for the game in India that many young people took it up as a profession after India won its biggest match ever at Lord’s that year.
The Indian cricket team lost both Test and ODI series against the West Indies after the World Cup. After that, in 1984, selectors reappointed Gavaskar as captain, ending Kapil’s reign. During the 1987 Cricket World Cup, he was retained as captain. After reaching the semi-finals, India lost to England. He retired in 1994. He wrote a few books, like God’s Decree, Cricket My Style, and Straight from the heart.
Awards and Legacy
He received the Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri, India’s third and fourth highest civilian awards of India, in 1991 and in 1982 respectively.
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