🏏Kapil Dev

📖In detail

An excellent bowler, an attacking batsman and an agile fielder, Kapil Dev was at one time the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. He played in the era of three other great all-rounders, Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee, and there was never agreement on which of the four was the best, because each was a master of his craft.

Kapil gave a new direction not only to Indian bowling but to Indian cricket itself. India, which had long depended on spinners, understood the value of fast bowling only after his arrival. It was under his captaincy that India won the 1983 World Cup, after which cricket gained a new identity in the country.

His bowling was known for accuracy and swing. He made his Ranji Trophy debut for Haryana against Punjab in 1975-76 and took six wickets for 39 runs in the very first innings. Strong performances against Bengal and Services earned him a place on the tour of Pakistan.

He took only seven wickets in three Tests there, but 17 wickets in six Tests against the West Indies proved his ability, and for about a decade and a half he led India's bowling attack, mostly on lifeless, spin-friendly Indian pitches and often without support from the other end.

He took 434 wickets in 131 Tests at an average of 29.64, with 23 five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket matches. His best Test figures were 9 for 83 against the West Indies at Ahmedabad in 1983-84. In 225 ODIs he took 253 wickets at 27.45, and he has 835 first-class wickets.

In 1994, after breaking Richard Hadlee's then record for most Test wickets, he retired from Test cricket, and from international cricket in October that year.