Sunday Snippets
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Kapil Dev Nikhanj who recently underwent an angioplasty and recovered from a stroke, will continue to be remembered as one of the tallest cricketing legends of India for eons to come.
After an array of impressive bowling performances in domestic cricket, while representing Haryana, Kapil was inducted into the national team and debuted against Pakistan. In his debut series, Kapil was very impressive with the ball and also showed his aggressive batting penchant with the Indian audiences applauding him fearlessly hitting the Pak pacers for a couple of sixes.
Kapil performed well in the series. However, India lost it by a 2-0 margin. Other than Sunny Gavaskar, there was very little support from the team members to combat the mighty Pak attack.
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Subsequently, in the home series against the West Indies, Kapil became popular with the Indian cricket fans when his rustic unconventional batting style kept them entertained. India won the six test series by a narrow 1-0 margin. In the Chepauk test which India won by three wickets, it was Kapil who stood at the crease and withstood the hostile bowling before the winning runs arrived.
As this brilliant all-rounder carried forward his form for India, he earned the captaincy of the Indian team. In the away test series against the West Indies that took place prior to the 1983 World Cup, Kapil saved India from defeat with a memorable knock in the second test. The knock will still be remembered for the Windies skipper Clive Lloyd being forced to place nine fielders on the boundary, leaving only the bowler and wicket keeper. The impact of this away series was so strong that when India defeated the West Indies in its first encounter of the 1983 World Cup, the team attributed it to the experiences they had in the series.
Kapil will be remembered for his historic feat in the second encounter India had with Zimbabwe. Having lost over half the side for just 17 runs, India was in a hopeless situation. Kapil stepped in and with able support from Roger Binny and Madan Lal, scored 175 to take the team score beyond the 260-mark. India won the match by 31 runs.
In the semi-final fixture against England, Kapil pitched in with the ball and restricted them to 213. In the finals too, Kapil will be remembered for what is regarded as an all-time great catch. Kapil ran almost 20 yards backwards and took the catch of Viv Richards. This is considered to be the turning point of the finals, which India won.
After the peak, there were also trough moments when India lost a home series against Windies by a 3-0 margin. Kapil continued to perform with ball and bat. In the home series against Keith Fletcher’s English team, at the first Test in Mumbai, he was instrumental in restricting the touring side. India eventually went on to win the match.
In the decade that followed, there were lots of sterling performances from this brilliant all-rounder, including the personal record of scoring over 5000 runs and claiming over 400 wickets in Test cricket. By the time he hung his boots, he claimed the credit for highest wicket-taker after he edged past Richard Hadlee and his tally of wickets stood at 432. Eventually, his record was broken.
There stands one commentator’s remark that sums up what his presence did to Indian cricket – Ever since Kapil arrived at the Indian Test scene, no opponent side has reached the 100 mark without losing wickets.
