The International Cricketing Journey Of Kapil Dev:

 Hey guys, did you know that India won their first ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP on June 25th? Oh wait, today is June 25th! Okay, guys since today is the day India won their 1st ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP I will be writing about the captain of the Indian Cricket Team in the 1983 World Cup. Can you guess who is it? It’s none-other than the great KAPIL DEV.

Early life:

Dev was born as Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj to his father Ram Lal Nikhanj, a teak merchant, and to his mother, Rajkumari in Chandigarh on 6 January 1959. His family moved to Fazilka after the partition before eventually moving to Chandigarh. Kapil Dev was a student in D.A.V School.

International Career:

Kapil Dev made his Test debut against Pakistan at Iqbal Stadium on October 16th, 1978. His figures in that match were unimpressive, but he startled the Pakistani batsmen with his dangerous bouncers. Kapil captured his maiden wicket of Sadiq Mohammad. Kapil scored his first half-century off 33 balls, and this inning includes also 2 sixes. Kapil scored his maiden century at Arun Jaitely stadium ( then known as Feroz Shah Kotla) against West Indies.

Kapil made his ODI debut against Pakistan at Ayub National Stadium on October 1st, 1978. Kapil scored his first ODI half-century against New Zealand. After becoming India’s main bowler Kapil, was named as captain in the 1982-1983 season, replacing Sunil Gavaskar. He was the captain of India in the 1983 world cup as well. Now let’s look at India’s first world cup Victory.

1983 WORLD CUP:

Kapil Dev entered the 1983 World Cup as the captain of the Indian team. India played well. They had to beat Zimbabwe and Australia to advance to the semi-finals. The match against Zimbabwe started of horribly for team India. They were struggling at 17/5. Then Kapil Dev came and he played one of the best innings in cricket history scoring 175 off just 138 balls and leading India to victory. They faced England in the semi-finals Kapil helped India this time with his bowling. India limited England to 213. Yashpal Sharma and Sandeep Patil led India to victory. India faced West Indies in the final of the 1983 World Cup. West Indies restricted India for only 183 runs. West Indies were soaring past India at 57-2 with Vivian Richards scoring quick runs. The turning point was when Viv Richards hit a pull short and Kapil was Running back covering a distance of 20 yards and catching the catch. This catch is regarded as one of the best catches in cricketing history. West Indies collapsed from 50/1 to 76/6. They finally got all out for 140 runs with Kapil Dev picking up the wicket of Andy Roberts.

Post World Cup:

After the World Cup India hosted West Indies and India lost really badly losing 3-0 in the Test series and 5-0 in the ODI series. After poor performances by Dev, Sunil Gavaskar replaced him as captain in early 1984.

Becoming Captain Again:

Dev was reappointed captain in March 1985 and guided India on a Test series win over England in 1986. This period saw one of his best matches in the tied second test against Australia he was named joint Man Of The Match (MOM) with Dean Jones. He was retained as captain for the 1987 world cup where India lost in the semi-finals. Dev faced the blame for India’s loss and he never became captain again though he was Vice-Captain for some time.

Final Years:

Kapil went into the ’90s as India’s main bowler. Kapil played in the 1992 world cup which was his last under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin. Kapil Dev retired in 1994 breaking Richard Hadlee’s record of most test wickets. He is also the fastest player to take 400 wickets and he is the youngest player to get 100 test wickets and 1000 test runs.

Coach:

Kapil Dev returned to the Indian cricket team in 1999, but this time as the head coach. After major series losses and a little bit of match-fixing Kapil resigned as the coach of the Indian Cricket Team. After resigning as a coach he said that he is leaving the game forever leaving many people in tears. Kapil returned in 2002 and was named Wisden Indian Cricketer Of The Century in July of that year.

Thank you Kapil Dev for your dedication to Indian Cricket. We will never forget your hard work and dedication to Indian Cricket. Thank you.

Hey guys I hope you like reading my latest post on Kapil Dev’s International Career.

Thank you!