• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

Kapil Dev 66th Birthday: Legendary India cricketer Kapil Dev is celebrating his birthday on Monday, January 6 as the former all-rounder turns 66.

Kapil was born in 1959 in Chandigarh into a Punjabi Hindu family of Ram Lal Nikhanj, a teak merchant and his wife, Rajkumari.

Kapil is regarded as one of the best all-rounders India have ever produced and his brilliance with both bat and ball was nothing less than world-class. He was especially known for his ability to swing the ball both ways while hitting the right length.

He played for Haryana in Indian domestic cricket and had stints with Northamptonshire and Worcestershire in the English county.

The best moment of Kapil's stellar career came in 1983 when he led India to their first ODI World Cup title with a sensational victory over mighty West Indies in the final at the iconic Lord's.

Dev's performance in the all-important match against Zimbabwe still remains one of the best ODI knocks ever to date as he smashed 175 runs after recovering the Indian team from a situation of 17/5 while batting first. He smashed 16 boundaries and six sixes.

He became the coach of the Indian team in 1999 but stepped down merely after 10 months due to a series of poor results.

Having made his debut for India in October 1978, Kapil went on to represent India in 131 Test matches and 225 ODI matches. He scalped 434 wickets and scored 5248 runs in the longest format of the game.

In ODIs, he ended his career with 253 wickets and 3783 runs to his name.

Kapil Dev scored nine centuries across formats and claimed 20 four-fors, 24 fifers and two 10-wicket hauls.

He first captained India from 1982-83 season to 1984.

Dev returned to the captaincy in 1985 after Gavaskar was sacked following India's series losses in both the ODI and Test series against England at home.

Under Dev's leadership, India won the Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket after beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final.

He did not captain India again after the 1987 World Cup, although he was the Vice-captain for India's tour to Pakistan in 1989.

Apart from winning the 1983 ODI World Cup, Kapil Dev secured two Asia Cup titles (in 1988 and 1991) as the Indian skipper.