Early Life
Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj, commonly known as Kapil Dev, was born on January 6, 1959 in Chandigarh, India. His family had moved from Pakistan during the partition of India. He attended DAV School and took up cricket during his school days. His cricket interest later transferred him to St. Stephen’s College in Delhi where he started playing at the college level.
Career Beginnings
Kapil Dev made his first-class debut at age seventeen against Haryana in November 1975. After putting up some impressive performances for Haryana, including an eight-wicket haul against Services, he was selected to play for North Zone against the touring West Indies team and impressed with a quick-fire half-century.
International Debut
In October 1978, Kapil got his national cap when he debuted for Indian Cricket Team against arch-rival Pakistan under the captaincy of Bishan Singh Bedi.
Impressed by his bowling skills, fiery bouncer and amazing swing bowling capabilities along with handling pressure situations helped him to retain his position in the Indian squad for many years thereafter.
Captaincy Days & World Cup Triumph
Eventually, Kapil Dev served as captain of the Indian cricket team between 1982-1984 & also between 1985–1987 leading them to victory in ICC Cricket World Cup Centenary test match in England and the highlight of his career was leading Indian cricket team which won their maiden World Cup title in June 1983 beating West Indies on British Soil.
Hall of Fame Induction & Records Achievements
Apart from being an illustrious fast bowler, he was also a hard hitting middle order batsman. Dev was the first player to achieve the ‘double’ of 4000 runs and 400 wickets he continues to hold the world record for most Test innings (184) without a duck.
He was inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in the year 2010.
Retirement
Kapil retired from cricket in 1994, having claimed more than thousand international wickets and scored over nine thousand runs across all formats. Post-retirement, Kapil has worked as broadcaster/commentator, writes column/articles & also coached Indian cricket team between 1999-2000.
Awards and Recognition
In recognition of his contribution to cricket, Kapil Dev was presented with the prestigious ‘Lifetime Achievement award’ by BBC Asian Network Sports Personality of The Year for year 2002.Another distinguished honour came upon him when Wisden named him along with Sachin Tendulkar as its two Top All-rounders of All Time in year 2002.
Later, He was awarded with “Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack” title in March 2002 by London-based publishers for his enduring commitment towards promoting cricket in India. In Dec 2020 Government of India conferred upon him “The greatest ODI cricketer and captain Of India slight” .
