Kapil Dev - A man with unlimited skills

From being a demi-God of cricket, he descended to the state of a mere mortal due to three big reasons. Firstly – he prolonged his career only to break a world record; secondly – whether it is true or not, somehow his name was dragged into match-fixing scandal thanks to Manoj Prabhakar and thirdly – he opted for the easier way of becoming unpopular by calling for the retirement of the God of cricket.

However, the Indian cricket fans had at-least absolved him for the first two faults. He was pardoned for delaying his retirement because after all, it was an Indian who eventually broke a world record. As far as the controversy involving match fixing is concerned, the way he sobbed on television, giving an interview to Karan Thapar, denying the allegations, earned him enough sympathizers. But calling for the head of Sachin Tendulkar, in the eyes of fans, was neither a fault nor a crime in India. Rather it was an inexpiable sin.

That is what the man who is better known as Ram Lal Nikanj Kapil Dev did. Many of Sachin’s fans have started treating his comments with despise. The same faults for which he was exonerated before are now recalled. The fans of the Mumbai’s batting supremo are arraigning the former Indian cricketer that he himself had acted selfishly by continuing well past his prime. All said and done, no matter whatever his stance is (regarding Sachin), no one can overlook the fact that he has been one of the greatest cricketers to have ever played the game. Like him or not, his accomplishments cannot be belittled just because of his conflicting views.

The Guiness Book of World Records gave him the nickname of “Haryana Hurricane”. Sunil Gavaskar still hails him as the greatest cricketer India has ever produced. He said this in-spite of the fact that he did not have a cordial relationship with the Haryana speedster during his playing days. So, this alone speaks volumes of how great a cricketer Kapil Dev had been for India.

The fans of Sachin have forgotten it but it was Kapil who first uttered the famous tag line, “Boost is the secret of my energy” even before their icon made his debut in international cricket. “Kapil Dev” had been the household name everywhere in India during 80s and at the beginning of 90s. He endorsed brands like, as I said Boost, and also Palmolive. He was so much popular during those days and no one can argue otherwise. He might have become a sort of a villain in the eyes of many today, but during those days, he was loved by most of the cricket fans, even more than Sunil Gavaskar.

Kapil was a very gifted cricketer. The game came very naturally to him – in the sense he could do anything as a cricketer without difficulty. He could bowl, he could bat, he could field and more importantly, he could captain the national side to its first ever World Cup triumph. None of those qualities can be taken away from him. I remember seeing him even keeping wickets in one of the exhibition matches. He unproved the proverb, “Jack of all trades is a master of none.” He excelled in each and every department of the game.

After eighteen years of his exit from international cricket, we are yet to find one genuine bowling all rounder of his caliber in India. There are many batsmen even now in Indian team who could bowl part-time. We had Ganguly before and now we are having Sehwag, Raina, Kohli, Yuvraj and even Sachin doing this role whenever required by their captain. But there is not one genuine bowler in Indian national side, who could bat like a top order batsman. That slot is still empty in the team and the void left by the great Kapil Dev is not yet filled.

Reminiscing about his glorious past, we cannot forget his accomplishments in 1983, which had been easily the best year for him. Indians were 5 wickets down with scoreboard reading just 17 runs in a Prudential World Cup match against Zimbabwe. It was then the captain of India for the World Cup, Kapil Dev, took guard. Still this innings of his is regarded as one of the best one-day innings ever seen. He not only helped his side recover from the state of doldrums but he also unleashed one of the greatest counter attacks on the African nation by lashing 175 runs from his bat. He won that match for India and it goes without saying, he did it single handedly. Unfortunately, not anyone of us was blessed to see that memorable innings because BBC cameramen went on strike during that eventful day.

When you talk of strength and mental attitude, he was second to none. Just imagine the plight of a cricketer who was captaining his team for the first time in a World Cup with his team losing half of its players, when he arrived to the crease. He never let that pressure of captaincy affect his performance. He just did his job taking full responsibility, which is the essential prerequisite for leading a side.

West Indies won the first two World Cups and as always looked invincible in 1983 as well. You would not find one weakness in that great side comprising of lethal fast bowlers and fiery batsmen. So, when India met the team from the Caribbean islands in the final, no one would have had a second thought as to which one of those two would emerge victorious. India could score only 183 runs on the board, leaving the defending champions to have a shot at it in 60 overs. A target of such a small kind was never going to be an uphill task for a side like West Indies to chase. However, the side captained by Kapil Dev defended the total with a spirited fight-back, trouncing the much celebrated batting line-up of West Indies, wrapping them with just 140 runs on the board.

Two things could be vividly noticed during that breathtaking final. The qualities of Kapil Dev as an athlete and as a captain came to the limelight then. Probably the most destructive batsman of that time, Vivian Richard, miscued a pull which went high in the air and if there was a wicket which was needed to be taken on priority for Indians to have any chance of winning the final, it was supposed to be his. The Indian captain, more than anyone, understood it perfectly and he gave it everything, covering a distance of around 20 yards, running backwards, taking the catch of the tournament. Like I said, everything was natural about him as a cricketer and so was his fielding.

Then talking of captaincy, the Haryana speedster had to be applauded for his presence of mind. He was aware of a certain injury endured by the then West Indies captain, Clive Lloyd, another destructive player which would inhibit him from playing certain shots. Knowing this well, he kept his mid-off at catching position and asked his bowler to deliver a ball which enticed the batsman to drive. The plan worked as envisaged. Lloyd drove the ball in the air without proper footwork, giving a catch to the fields-man placed particularly for that reason.

Normally, people mess up things in pressure situation but Kapil had no such problems. He kept his cool as a captain and sowed the seeds of India’s victory by setting things up nicely for taking the two biggest West Indian wickets. Today, Dhoni is acclaimed as the World Cup winning captain in 2011. But Kapil’s World Cup win was much sweeter as India lifted the cup as underdogs and that too on foreign soil which was, by the way, a neutral venue for both the finalists.

Kapil Dev was holding several world records himself during his playing days. He was the highest wicket taker in tests when he surpassed Richard Hadlee’s record of 431 scalps. Also, he held the world record for maximum number of wickets in ODIs. He was the first all rounder in world history to have amassed over 5000 test runs in addition to more than 400 test wickets. There were people who used to criticize the Haryana all rounder that it took him 131 test matches to get 434 wickets, which could be rated very slow in comparison to that of Hadlee. But, no one should forget he was a fast bowler who played most of his test matches in the slow turfs of India which were not known to assist quickies. But even then, he managed to overcome the unfriendly pitches to own a world record for nearly a decade till Courtney Walsh went past him. During his days, he was known to have possessed one of the best out-swinging deliveries in the game. He acted miserly in giving away runs and had a healthy economy rate as well.

In recognition of all his success, a decade back, he was named as the greatest Indian cricketer of all time, ahead of Sachin Tendulkar by Wisden in 2002. It was a fitting tribute to the great man who has been a backbone for Indian cricket in 80s. History may never see another Kapil Dev and reverberating Wisden’s call, I would like to conclude saying, “Kapil Dev ka jawab nahin.” (He is incomparable).