1983 World Cup Performance
Kapil Dev entered the World Cup with an ordinary individual record - 32 Matches, 608 Runs (Average: 21), 34 wickets. India's solitary victory in the previous two World Cups was against East Africa in 1975. Riding on Yashpal Sharma (89 Runs), Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri (3 wickets each), India inflicted the West Indies' first-ever defeat in the World Cup. Following a victory against Zimbabwe, India lost the next two matches - Australia (despite Kapil Dev's best career figures of 5/43) and West Indies. Needing victories against Australia and Zimbabwe to advance to semi-finals, India faced Zimbabwe at Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells on 18 June 1983
Under overcast conditions, India won the toss and elected to bat. Disaster struck as the top order started a procession back to the dressing room as Sunil Gavaskar (0), Kris Srikkanth (0), Mohinder Amarnath (5) and Sandeep Patil (1) leaving India at a precarious 9/4 that turned to 17/5 when Yashpal Sharma (9) was dismissed. Batting with the lower order batsmen, Kapil Dev stabilized the side with a 60-run partnership with Roger Binny (22 runs) and a 62-run partnership with Madan Lal. When Syed Kirmani walked in at 140/8, Kapil Dev had scored his half-century and went on to score his century off just 72 balls - establishing the then record for fastest ODI century. Together with Kirmani (22 runs), Kapil put on an unbeaten 126 runs for the 9th wicket - a current world record. Kapil Dev finished not out with 175 runs off 138 balls, an innings that included 16 boundaries and 6 sixes. The innings figures in the Top 10 ODI Batting Performances compiled by Wisden in February 2002 at No. 4. India won the match by 31 runs[25]. After a win against Australia, India entered the semi-finals.
On winning the 1983 Cricket World Cup, Indian captain Kapil Dev (left) with the President (centre) and the Prime Minister (right)
On winning the 1983 Cricket World Cup, Indian captain Kapil Dev (left) with the President (centre) and the Prime Minister (right)
Kapil Dev helped curtail the lower-order after England lost regular wickets to Roger Binny and Mohinder Amarnath. Kapil took 3 wickets as India curtailed to 213 and the middle order of Mohinder Amarnath (46 runs), Yashpal Sharma (61), Sandeep Patil (51*) ensured victory[26] and entry into the finals to take on the mighty West Indies cricket team who were looking for a hat-trick of World Cup titles. When West Indies restricted India for 183 runs, with only Kris Srikkanth (38 runs) providing some scoring relief. Despite losing Gordon Greenidge, West Indies steadied their innings to 57/2 on the back of quick scoring by Viv Richards and looked comfortable. Richards played one too many aggresive shots when he skied a pull shot from Madan Lal that Kapil caught at deep square leg after running for over 20 yards. The catch is attributed as the turning point in the 1983 WC Final and is regarded as one of the finest in ODI Cricket. West Indies collapsed from 50/1 to 76/6 and finally were bowled out for 140 with Kapil picking up the wicket of Andy Roberts. Kapil Dev had upset Clive Lloyd's West Indies to win their maiden and to-date only World Cup and he led from the front with 303 runs (Average: 60.6), 12 wickets (Average: 20.41) and 7 catches in 8 matches - a truly all-round performance.
Post World Cup
After the World Cup, India hosted the West Indies cricket team and felt their fury as the West Indies won the Test series 2-0 and the ODI Series 4-0. Kapil Dev achieved his best test bowling performance a loss at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad with a return of 9/83. His bowling performance in the test and ODI series was let down by his poor batting performance. The selectors ended the reign of Kapil Dev and reappointed Sunil Gavaskar as captain.
Difficult captaincy
Kapil lost the captaincy in early 1984 to Sunil Gavaskar. He regained it in March 1985 and guided India on a Test series win over England on their tour in 1986. This period saw one of the most famous matches played during his reign, the second Tied Test in which he was named joint-man of the match with Dean Jones. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup he faced the blame for India's loss to England in the semi-final, as he holed out to deep mid-wicket triggering a collapse that led to the unexpected loss. He did not captain India again.
The captaincy period was on the whole a difficult one for him as it was mired with reports of differences with Gavaskar, as well as his own inconsistent form as a bowler. However, both men have since insisted that these reports were exaggarated .
Playing Style
Batting: Always an entertainer
At his best, Kapil was one of the world's most destructive batsmen.
* During the Test match series against Pakistan in 1982-83, he demolished Abdul Qadir's leg spin, which the English and Australian batsmen had great difficulty in reading earlier in the same year.
* He was also fearless in attacking the world's best fast-bowlers. During a World Cup match against the West Indies in 1983, he drove Michael Holding straight over his head for a six, a shot that would have been considered unimaginable by most against a bowler of Holding's pace.
* In a match on route to the World Cup final of 1983, Kapil smashed a captain's knock of 175 not out against Zimbabwe helping India recover from an extremely poor start. India had collapsed to 9/4 when Kapil came in to bat, and were reduced further to 17/5. His 175 not out turned the game completely in India's favour and was at the time the highest-ever individual score in ODI cricket. It was also the first ODI century by an Indian. Surprisingly, it was also Kapil's only ODI hundred.
* Another memorable incident relates to a Test match against England in 1990. When India needed 24 runs to save the follow-on with only one wicket remaining, Kapil met that target by hitting four consecutive sixes off Eddie Hemmings. This proved to be the right decision, as in the next over itself, the number 11 batsman Narendra Hirwani was dismissed with no further addition to the score.
* A further example of his competitive spirit was during a match against West Indies at Sharjah in November 1986, when he tried to cajole Viv Richards into bowling the last over of the match with India needing 36 runs to win. Unsurprisingly, Richards did not give in to his request.[citation needed]* Kapil's batting talent and competitive spirit were evident until as late as 1992, when during a Test match against South Africa, he counter-attacked Allan Donald and the rest of the South African pace attack on his way to his final Test century, an outstanding 129 out of a total of 215. The next highest score was only 17 and none of the top six batsmen got into double figures.
Bowling Style
By the end of 1983, Kapil already had about 250 Test wickets in just five years and looked well on his way to becoming one of the most prolific wicket-takers ever. However, following knee surgery in 1984, his bowling declined as he lost some of his majestic jump at the crease. He continued to be effective, if not devastating, for another ten years and became the second bowler ever to take 400 wickets in Test cricket in 1991-92. |