Kapil Dev is undoubtedly the best all-rounder produced by India in the world of cricket. He made the ball swing at decent enough pace and had the T20 style batting prowess when even ODIs were a new thing.
Kapil, along with Pakistan’s Imran Khan, England’s Sir Ian Botham and New Zealand’s Sir Richard Hadlee, formed the fearsome all-rounder quartet that ruled the cricketing world in the 1980s. Kapil even broke Hadlee’s world record of 431 Test wickets, ending his career with 434 scalps in 1994.
Later, he was voted as the Indian cricketer of the 20th century by Wisden. Recently, he had a chat with Wisden’s Henry Cowen, in which Kapil picked out eight of the most standout moments of his illustrious career.
No balls during the Ranji Trophy match between Haryana and Punjab in Rohtak, 1975
Kapil remembered the 1975 Ranji Trophy encounter between Haryana and Punjab in which he bowled so many no balls, that he cannot remember the exact count. “I was very raw on my debut. I’d never seen much cricket and I came from Chandigarh, where there wasn’t a pitch. We played on matting pitches. I remember not what I got but how many front-foot no-balls I bowled. So many no-balls! I’m not sure I bowled as many no-balls in my entire Test career as I did in this game, I think it was almost 22,” Kapil says.
First Test century (126)- vs West Indies, Delhi, 1980
Kapil reveals that he made his maiden Test century before he took a fifer in the format. He says,” That hundred was very sweet because I was established that day. People started saying, ‘He’s an all-rounder, he can bat’, and that helps you stay in the team. It also helps you bowl with a more aggressive mindset.”
The youngest man to 1,000 Test runs and 100 Test wickets
Kapil says,” During that period I really wasn’t focused on landmarks. Reaching 100 Test wickets was very important though because I was the first seam bowler to take that many wickets from India. That was special.”
5/28 vs Australia, Melbourne, 1981
Kapil recalls, “We won this Test and it was the first time we drew a series in Australia. I ruptured my thigh muscle on day one and I couldn’t even get to the ground for almost three days. On the fifth day they needed 143 and I was just bowling four or five overs to get some rhythm.” He then says captain Gavaskar wanted to take him off the attack, but he persisted given that he had found some rhythm and proceeded to win the match for India.
Beating the West Indies for the first time in ODIs
“This was the first match we won against the West Indies in the West Indies, and our first ODI victory over them. No other team was able to beat the West Indies before the 1983 World Cup in England, where all this was leading to. I was captain for the first time and this victory gave us a lot of confidence,” Kapil recalls.
Defeating Pakistan in the finals of the Benson and Hedges World Series finals in Australia, 1985
Kapil picked 3/23 in the finals against Pakistan helping India win their second multi-team tournament after the 1983 World Cup. He says,” This was the most special moment for us as a team, even more, special than the World Cup win of 1983. A lot of people said our win in 1983 was a fluke, whereas in this tournament people believed that we were genuinely good enough to pick up the trophy.”
119* in the Tied Test vs Australia, Chennai, 1986
Speaking on his ultra-aggressive 119* in the tied Test against Australia in Chennai in 1986, Kapil Dev says, “That was the nature of my game; their game was Test cricket whereas I couldn’t defend so mine was T20. I was very aggressive, hitting over cover, over mid-on, over mid-off, wherever I had the opportunity. I was more bothered with getting runs than defending my wicket.”
The four sixes against England at Lord’s 1990
Kapil Dev is the only batsman to achieve the feat of hitting four sixes in four consecutive balls in Tests, something that came against England in the Lord’s Test of 1990. Graham Gooch scored 333 and 123 to put India under the sword, but Ravi Shastri and Mohammad Azharuddin made centuries in the first innings to counter it.
“I did plan to attack Eddie Hemmings but I didn’t plan for four sixes. The first two balls I was always going to block and then for the third ball, I said I have to jump out because he was trying to buy the wicket by giving me more flight. I knew I could go for it,” Kapil said about his world record.
(Wisden inputs)
