I have been on mouthshut for nearly 2 months now. I have seen lots of reviews on Sachin Tendulkar (including one by myself). But I haven’t seen any review on Kapil Dev. I wonder why have we forgotten India’s greatest cricketer. Ok, lets now start with the review.
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Kapil Dev started playing for India way back in 1978, when he made his debut against Pakistan at Faislabad. Within a few seasons of international cricket, he became a force to reckon with. And his entry into the Indian team co-insided with a virtual transformation from being a team of limited talent to a team of world beaters. A case in example is the 1982 tour to West Indies. While the team was hammered by the windies, we actually managed to win an ODI against them. Kapil found himself soon as the captain of the side. He had the responsibility of leading the team into the world cup of 1983.

The Indian team of that time consisted of only 2 big names - Kapil and Gavaskar, the rest including Shastri, Srikant, Sandip Patil and others were only bits and pieces type of players. And yet, we managed to embarrass the mighty West Indies in the opening game of the world cup. A review about Kapil is always incomplete without mentioning the 175 he scored at Tunbridge Wells against Zimbabwe. The knock laced with 16 fours and 6 sixes is a part of Indian Cricketing folklore. What followed that knock was a revival of the team and it ultimately led us to the finals of the world cup.
 
And here too, when India was dismissed for a paltry 183 against West Indies, the mood in the Indian pavilion was gloomy. But here again, Kapil told his teammates to just go out there and play to your best. A few words of wisdom from the captain inspired the team to defeat the West Indies in the finals. We thus became the first team to defeat West Indies. I am sure most of us have seen the images of Kapil lifting the trophy numerous times on TV. The broad smile says it all, that we are the world champions. The current team, boasting of the Great Sachin Tendulkar hasn’t been able to do it, and yet we idolize this modern team.

Kapil may not have been a very good captain, as can be seen from the fact that there were only 33 ODI victories under him as against 36 losses. But he was a charismatic player. And towards the late 1980s, he had acquired a position in the team that could not be challenged by anybody. Sachin today enjoys a similar position in the team. Kapil was a devastating bowler. He took nearly half of his 434 wickets playing in India. His genuine outswingers were tough to follow and many batsmen of his time fell victim to his devastating bowling. Allan Border, Javed Miandad and Ian Botham are just to name a few.

Lets not forget Kapil, the batsmen. He played many useful innings for India. The best that I can recall came on India’s tour to South Africa in 1992, in a match where India were reduced to 31/6 at a stage, he resurrected the inning with a breezy 129. Of course it wasn’t enough to save the match, but it showed the character with which he played. And of course, who can forget the 4 straight sixes he hit against England to avoid the follow-on. Kapil gave a taste of his batting to Eddie Hemmings, and nearly finished off his career.

Kapil was always an inspiration for youngsters. Some of today’s fast bowlers have grown up watching Kapil and his art of bowling. Kapil himself had encouraged a lot of youngsters. His best find for the team was Ajay Jadeja. How Kapil’s name got involved in the match-fixing allegations is something that is open to debate. But his outburst against Prabhakar at a press conference and the tears on Karan Thapar’s show clearly showed how badly he was hurt.

I can go on and on writing about Kapil simply because he is my idol but I have to stop somewhere. I rank him a bigger player than Sachin or Gavaskar. Such is the greatness of this man, that when he broke Hadlee’s world record, Sportstar magazine dedicated an entire issue to him. I wonder, would any publication house dedicate an entire issue of their sports magazine when Sachin becomes the highest run-scorer in test cricket.

Who is your favorite sports player in this field?

Kapil Dev