Ever since India made our debut in Test cricket, we have been languishing in good fast bowlers who could send shivers down the throats of the opposition. There was Mohammed Nisar and Amar Singh back in 1932 but they did not play long enough. Moreover, cricket in India during those days wasn’t as popular as it is now and hence, we the number of games was also less. India’s neighbour, Pakistan, were and are producing fast bowlers by the truckload whereas India were languishing. The less said about the rest of the world, the better. You had Pascoe, Lillee & Thomson for Australia. Botham, Willis and others for England. The giants emerging from the West Indies. India was longing for one of their own. That is where Kapil Dev emerged from nowhere. Ofcourse, he could have achieved a lot more but couldn’t. This is a tribute to Kapil Dev.
The biggest moment of Kapil Dev’s career
This is undoubtedly, the 1983 World Cup triumph. I do not think that any other achievement of his, including the fact that he was the leading wicket taker in the world for sometime, can even come close to this. The 1983 World Cup triumph came against every conceivable odds. No one, absolutely no one gave the team any chance. If events of the movie 83 were to be considered, the players themselves did not believe that they can win the tournament. Let us also remember that the West Indies at that point were unbeatable. They won the first and second editions and with a quarter of pacers and extraordinary batsmen like Richards, Lloyd and Greenidge in their ranks, it was child’s play for them to win the World Cup for the 3rd consecutive time.
Kapil instilled not just confidence in the players but a belief that they can give the mightier teams, a run for the money. He alone believed that he had the team to win the cup. He led by way of example with an all-time great 183 against Zimbabwe. It is a pity that the footage of that innings can never be viewed because of BBC strike. Be that as it may, that sole innings exhibited his unflinching desire to win the World Cup itself to the team members.
The Richards catch and the aftermath
The Richards catch in the final was another extraordinary moment in the World Cup. It was a difficult catch made to look easy by a boost of adrenaline. The smiling faces of the entire Indian team during that game were soothing to every Indian supporter. Srikkanth’s exuberant celebrations, running all the way from the boundary every time a wicket falls, will melt the hearts of every Indian fan. All of these were made possible by one man, Kapil.
Cricket in this nation gained a major fillip after India won the World Cup. The game was popular before but the single achievement, not only was emotional for an entire nation but it also made everyone believe that we as a nation can rise and compete against the powerful nations.
Lone torch bearer
For a very longtime, Kapil Dev remained the sole torch bearer when it came to fast bowling for India. When he made his debut, there was a story that went around that until then, Pakistan batsmen who never really rated Indian fast bowlers, started to wear helmets. It was an admission by Pakistan as to how quick and accurate was Kapil. India finally found a fast bowler who could scare the opponents. To this day, it will remain a mystery why Kapil choose to become a medium pace bowler instead of the fast bowler that he started off. He seemed to have decided that the slow and low Indian pitches will not offer him any assistance and that if he wanted to extend his career, he could not be bowling quick and it was better to become a medium pacer than a real quick.
It was really a shame. Perhaps, with the benefit of hindsight, if he remained a fast bowler, maybe he would not have played for a very longtime but would have been much more effective and picked up his wickets at much less.
The batting that he ignored
In his entire career, he scored 6 hundreds. For a batsman of his ability, who did not have any weakness, either against pace or spin, that was a meagre return. Yes, it is not easy to be the primary bowler and also score runs. The sheer belligerence of his strokes makes one cry in anguish as to how little he managed with the bat. The bouncy pitches of South Africa did not bother him either and that too towards the fag end of his career where he scored a brilliant 139. South Africa at that point, for Indians was a tough environment to score runs.
Nowadays, Indians are enthralled by the batting of Hardik Pandya but if only the current youngsters had seen Kapil Dev’s batting, they would realise how far behind Pandya is. I am making this comparison only to show how good with the bat was he. Unfortunately, he did not give much importance to batting.
Low point of his career
The last 3 years of his career. The single-minded focus to hold the World Record. By that time, he was way past his best. There was the young Javagal Srinath who was bowling at his fiery best. Upwards of 147KMPH. A rare Indian fast bowler. Manoj Prabhakar saved his position on the basis of his ability to open the innings in Test cricket. Kapil Dev lost much of his pace and guile. Yet, he did not find it necessary to leave and allow a youngster to make use of his potential. Infact, I will go onto say that Srinath’s progress was blocked because of the presence of Kapil Dev.
India played a lot of Tests in India with primary method of attack being spin. Kapil Dev never got to bowl more than 4 overs per innings, yet, he persisted with the only ambition of getting to the world record. For someone who played throughout his career with the sole intention of winning games for the nation, it was so depressing to see him playing just for the World Record.
He refused to retire despite achieving the world record. By that time, he lost considerable pace and was ineffective to say the least. It took a Phil Simmons sweep to sweep him into oblivion.
Wrapping up a tribute to Kapil Dev
Off the field, Kapil Dev has remained a respected figure and an ambassador for the sport. He has been recognised with numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century award.