Today 6th January,2021 marks the 62nd Birth Anniversary of arguably one of the greatest players of Indian Cricket and the 1983 World Cup Winning Captain Kapil Dev.
Born in Chandigarh,Punjab Kapil Dev would go on to make his International Debut against Pakistan on 1st October 1978. Nicknamed the "The Haryana Hurricane", he was known for his All Round Skills.
It was the 1983 World Cup which was the height of his career and made him from a normal cricketer to a legend of the game. In the Previous two editions of the World Cup(In 1975 and 1979) India had won only one match against East Africa in 1975.
In the 83 world cup, India would go on to inflict West Indies first ever defeat in the competition. Following a victory against Zimbabwe, India lost the next two games against Australia (despite Dev's best career bowling figures of 5/43) and then to West Indies. Now to advance to the next rounds, India needed to win against Australia and Zimbabwe.
In a do or die game against Zimbabwe, India lost the top order quickly and were in dire needs of a mircale. Dev then started to stabilize the inning with lower order Batsmens with the likes of Madan Lal and Roger Binny. He would add a 126 run stand for the 9th wicket partnership (a record that stood for 27 years) and finished off with an unbeaten knock of 175 runs of 138 balls which included 16 fours and 6 sixes. Due to this effort, India won the game by 31 runs and reached the semi finals.
After a dominating performance with the ball and the bat against England, India reached the final and faced 2 time Defending Champions West Indies who were looking for a Hattrick of World Cup Titles.
West Indies were the most feared side of that era. Having lost the toss,India were told to bat first. Led by a bowling lineup by likes of legendaries Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts.
India were Bowled out for the score of 183. Despite losing a wicket early, the West Indies team stabilized the innings but the turning point of the game came when Sir Vivian Richards who tried to play to many aggressive shots was caught out by Dev. The West Indies innings collapsed from 50-1 to 76-6. They were bowled out for 140 as India won the game by 43 runs and Won the World Cup.
Kapil Dev's Heroics in the 1983 World Cup would go on to inspire the next generations of Indian Players. He retired in 1994 finishing with 9031 runs and 687 wickets to his name. He is the only player in the history of the game to pick 400 wickets and score 5000 runs in Test Cricket.
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