KAPIL DEV

The Haryana Hurricane Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj was born on 6 January 1959 in Chandigarh. He led India to their first and only World Cup title in 1983 and was named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002. Kapil Dev made his international cricket debut against Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1978-79. When the Pakistani team returned to India for a six-Test series in 1979-80, Kapil's spectacular performance fetched him the "Man of the Series" award. He was successful in the next season in Australia too. He bagged the "Man of the Series" award against England in the home series of 1981-82 as well as the away series in 1982. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team after India's dismal performance in its tour to Pakistan in 1982. He lost the captainship in 1984 to Sunil Gavaskar, but regained it in 1985. In 1996, Kapil led India to a Test series win over England.

He was a very successful bowler too. Kapil became the second bowler ever to take 400 wickets in Test cricket in 1991. He went on to become the highest Test wicket-taker in the world in 1994, a record which was broken by Courtney Walsh in 1999. Kapil's name has entered the record books for being the only player to have scored 4,000 Test runs and taken 400 Test wickets. In 1988, Kapil become the highest wicket-taker in ODI cricket before his record was broken by Wasim Akram in 1994.

A very attacking player, he loved to take the fight to the opposition's camp. One of his most memorable innings was in a match en route to the World Cup final of 1983 when he scored 175 not out against Zimbabwe, rescuing India from a precarious position at 17/5 and finally turning the game in India's favour.

He retired from cricket in 1994 and was appointed as the coach of the Indian national cricket team in 1999, but he resigned in 2000. He was awarded the Arjuna Award for 1979-80, the Padma Shri in 1982 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991.