There is no doubt that Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj Kapil Dev is the best all-rounder India has produced till date. But his contribution as the captain of the Indian team has been legendary as well. After all, he led India to its only World Cup victory till date 23 years ago. Kapil`s career, which lasted, from 1979-1994 saw his break and set a number of records. He overtook Richard Hadlee`s record of 431 Test wickets. His record was later over taken by Courtney Walsh and is presently held by spin wizard Shane Warne. The Haryana Hurricane as he was nicknamed was capable of holding his place in the side on the basis of his bowling ability only. In fact he started his career batting at No. 11 before moving up the order later. As a bowler, Kapil had a polished action, which helped him bowl the outswinger at will and his inswinging yorker was almost unplayable for the tailenders. He was India`s leading pace bowler throughout the 80s.

Kapil was a naturally aggressive batsman. His most famous innings came in the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe when he played what can only be described as a captain`s knock amassing 175 after India had crumbled to 5/17. The innings was the first century by an Indian in one-day internationals and the only by Kapil in his entire ODI career. Unfortunately there is no recording of that tremendous innings as the BBC staff went on a flash strike that day.

Kapil Dev made his debut against Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1979. He was impressive in the series and when Pakistan toured India next season, he delivered a man of the series performance as India won the series 2-0. Kapil was beginning to be recognized at the international stage and he became an even bigger hero when he bowled India to a victory over Australia at Melbourne with an injured leg. He maintained his consistency, as he was the man of the series in both the home and away series in 1981-82. But his greatest moment of glory was without doubt lifting the World Cup at the Lords balcony in `83. In the same year, Kapil registered his career-best figures of 9/83 in a Test against West Indies at Ahmedabad. Unfortunately, during this peak of his career, he had to undergo a knee surgery in 1984 following which his bowling lost some bite. He carried on playing till 1994 bringing in all his experience into play and ended his career on a high note - the bowler with the most wickets in Test cricket.

Amongst his other notable batting efforts include hitting 4 consecutive sixes against England`s Eddie Hemmings in 1990 when India needed 24 runs to save the follow-on. A couple of years later in 1992, he hooked and pulled effortlessly against pace sensation Allan Donald and registered a memorable century even as the other batsmen struggled. But it is always felt that for a batsman of his caliber, a Test average of 31 was not justified.