Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (born January 6, 1959) is an Indian legendary cricket icon. He was the captain of the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Wisden named him the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002. He was one of the greatest all-rounders of all-time, Dev played 131 Tests for India taking 434 wickets, record at one time. He was the first player to complete 5,000 runs and 400 wickets in Tests. He has been honoured with the Indian civilian award of Padma Bhushan.

Quotes

 * Test cricket is for batsmen, not bowlers. Bowlers are like slaves," Kapil Dev.
 * Quoted in


 * If I can do something for the game and the young cricketers through the ICL, I will not budge
 * Quoted in "Profile: Kapil Dev".


 * ...his mother was very old, and his father was no longer alive -- hence there cannot be another Kapil Dev!
 * When questioned "why a big country like India could not produce another fast bowler like him" quoted in


 * It appeared as if the whole nation stood up to greet me in Ahmedabad on my taking the 432nd wicket. The country was proud and that made me really happy...This was the first time in my life I realized what it is to be the number 1 in the world. It is a heady feeling almost out of the world.
 * Quoted in


 * I don’t tell myself I am a hero. People do look up to performers and think of them as heroes...Hero worship in India is too big. It is both right and wrong. It is fair to respect people who have done things that others haven’t but it is not right to traet them as gods.
 * Quoted in


 * Look, if you take the best batting team in the world, they too will have their weaknesses -- otherwise, wouldn't they win all the time? You mention any team to me, and I will pick out for you a dozen weaknesses. But that is not the point -- these things, like fielding, running between wickets, all these are technical things, they can be learnt and practised.
 * In an interview on "Fielding, running between wickets" quoted in


 * What is required is self-belief, most importantly. And secondly, you should be ready to listen, to be strong to acknowledge what your weakness is, and learn, improve... If you have that, then all this that you are talking about, fielding, running between wickets, they are all minor things...
 * In an interview on "Fielding, running between wickets" quoted in "The Rediff Cricket Interview / Kapil Dev".

Kapil Dev: 30 years on, I can still recall India World Cup victory

 * ...the joy of winning the World Cup cannot be compared with any amount of money
 * Well, the Caribbeans were far superior on paper but we could utilize the English conditions better during the tournament. Mind you, we had won against bigger opponents, matches after matches. I think nobody can deny that. How could then it be termed as a fluke?
 * When we returned [to] India, we realised how the countrymen had celebrated the win! Everybody was over the moon. Some of them said that the August 15, 1947 came back.
 * We had won many trophies before and after that like the team under MSD are winning now. But the joy of that day is something different. May be because it was the first time we had won the coveted World Cup. Each year for these 30 years, I start receiving phone calls and texts from the night of June 24 the way I receive the same for my birthday!

The Rediff Cricket Interview / Kapil Dev

 * ...that if you want to do something, achieve something, you can't be thinking all the time of what you don't have... I don't have an opening batsman, I don't have a fast bowler, I don't have an all-rounder... You think like this and you are telling yourself you can't win. You have to see what you have, and then plan how to use it the best way you can, that is how to win games. Not this business of 'we don't have an all-rounder so we are not a balanced team!
 * If you stand under a mountain and look up, you will get a bad pain in the neck. If you look at the ground and take one step, and then another step, then you come to a little bump. You think of how to climb over it; then you find a gap and you jump over it and you go on like that, one step at a time, and suddenly, you find yourself standing on top of the mountain.
 * Tournaments like the World Cup, they are a bit like that -- you can't start out by thinking of how you will play the final at Lord's. You look at your first opponent and you think how to defeat him, then you think of your next opponent. It doesn't matter who you think you might meet in the final, you should only think of your next match. That is the only way to win a tournament, that is what we did in 1983, we played one match at a time...

Beating Pakistan, Kapil Dev's fondest 1992 World Cup memory

 * India didn’t play particularly well, but if you ask me I would say my best memory is we beat eventual winners Pakistan in a league match. It’s not a positive memory for me, but to say we beat the team which held the trophy makes me feel better.
 * The uniforms are my other memory. In the beginning, they looked odd. In the cricket world, we were used to playing in whites. Back then, the world was changing, television was changing and you needed people to see more colour. So, I think they did a great thing."
 * Back then, people were calling it pyjama cricket, but I think if you look back, you have to change yourself with the time and I think the administrators did the right thing. Now you look at Cricket World Cup as colourful and that’s because of 1992. It represents national pride and everybody has their own colours to identify themselves with and be proud,” said Kapil, for whom the 1992 edition was the last World Cup.
 * His Views on One day cricket.

About Kapil Dev

 * An all-round cricketer of charismatic brilliance.
 * By cricket journalist Christopher Martin-Jenkins quoted in "Profile: Kapil Dev".


 * The BCCI acknowledges Mr. Kapil Dev's immense contribution to Indian cricket and looks forward to a fruitful association with him in the years to come.
 * Statement by BCCI in