Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj, better known as Kapil was born on January 6, 1959, in Chandigarh, India. Along with Garfield Sobers, Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee and Ian Botham, he is one of the greatest all-rounders ever seen in the game. He led India to its only World Cup victory in 1983. In addition, he held the record for the most Test match wickets, between 1994 and 1999.

Unrealized potential

While it can be said of Kapil that he reached his full potential as a bowler, the same cannot be said of him as a batsman. A test average of 31 did not do justice to his talent where on one hand he was one of the cleanest hitters in the game and on the other hand possessed the classical "Indian wrist" with which he could place the ball almost anywhere on the ground. He often failed to bat responsibly and therefore remained glued to the no.7 spot throughout his career. As compared to him, Ian Botham and Imran Khan proved to be more responsible batsmen and moved to higher spots in the middle order.

Related Topics:
Ian Botham - Imran Khan

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One other Drawback kapil dev had was lack of lethal pace, for which he mostly had to depend on accuracy and ability to swing the ball. Kapil some times took al out of punishment when bowling on genuine batting tracks. For example at Gaddafi Stadium in 1982 Zaheer Abbas 105 and Javed Miandad 119 not out showed great disrespect to kapil dev, who finished with Bowling of figures 7 Overs with zero Medians giving 73 Runs while taking one Wicket.

Related Topics:
Gaddafi Stadium - Zaheer Abbas - Javed Miandad

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