Essays

If there is any game which has an obsessive mass following in India, it is cricket. Introduced by the British in India as a hobby in their spare time, India's towering position and passion for the game is a well-known fact. India has been hosting a number of zealous players of the game and Kapil Dev's name is on the top of the list.

Born on January 6, J959 in Chandigarh, Kapil Dev or 'Haryana Hurricane' as he is fondly called, is the greatest pace bowler India has produced. He is also our greatest fast-bowling all-rounder. He played his first competitive game of cricket at the age of 13. In Chandigarh, he used to be regular spectator to watch inter-sector matches. On one Sunday, the Sector 16 Team fell one player short and Dev was taken in as a replacement. He impressed them with his attitude and became one of the regular members of the team. His family noticed his passion for the game and pursued him to take it seriously. At 14, Kdpil Dev started playing for the DAV School, coached by Desh Prem Azad, a well-known cricket coach in Chandigarh.

Kapil Dev, immensely talented and diligent as he was, made his first class debut in November 1975 at the age of 17. He played for his home state Haryana against the neighbouring state of Punjab. His performance in the match was very impressive as he got 6 wickets for just 39 runs. His 7 for 20 against Bengal and 8 for 38 against Services are considered to be one of the best bowling performances in the Indian domestic cricket.

In international arena, Kapil Dev made his test debut on October 16, 1978 at Faisalabad against Pakistan- His bowling in the first innings was disappointing. In the second innings, he bowled better and got his first test wicket, that of Sadiq Mohammad. India was comprehensively beaten in this series but it saw the emcrqcnct1 of Kapil Dev as a talented fast bowler and an all-rounder. He learnt a lot in this series and modified his action on the advice of Sunil Gavaskar and started bowling from close to the stumps to make his outswingers more effective and lethal. His rise in the team was steady. He debuted as India's captain in the 1982-83 season again-st Sri Lanka when Sunii Gavaskar was rested. His first assignment as a regular captain was on the tour of West Indies, where his biggest achievement was a lone ODI victory. However, there came a turning point in his cricketing career in 1983. This was the momentus year when India lifted the precious World Cup.

Kapil Dev entered the World Cup with an ordinary individual record—32 matches, 608 runs, 34 wickets. But this was soon to get a makeover. Riding on YashpaJ Sharma, Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri's brilliant performances, India inflicted the Wp.st Indies's first-ever defeat in the World Cup. In a match against Zimbabwe, coming to bal at a precarious situation, Kapil Dev finished not out with 175 runs off 138 balls, was a stupendous innings which figures in the Top 10 All-time ODI Batting Performances compiled by Wisden in February 2002, India took on the mighty Caribbeans in the finals of the World Cup 198,'i. West Indies restricted India for 183 runs, with only Kris Srikkdnth {38 runs) providinci some scoring relief. West Indies, when baiting, steadied their innings to 57/2 on the back of quick scoring by Viv Richards and looked comfortable. Richards played too many aggressive shots sad was caught by Kapil Dev. This catch is attributed as the turning point in the 1983 World Cup Final, West Indies were bowled out for 140. Indeed, Kapil Dev had upset Clive Loyd's West Indies to win India's maiden World Cup. His another illustrious innings include 4 successive sixes in the first innings of the Lords Test in 1990 to get the 24 runs needed to avoid the follow on.

Kapil Dev remained India's top strike bowler for almost 15 years. His extraordinary test match figures of more than 5000 runs, 434 wickets along with 64 catches show that he was a world class cricketer. In recognition of his efforts and legendary achievements, he was named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002.