Was Kapil paaji our BIGGEST hitting beast eva ?

[satishg]

I am not very well versed in my Zoology and Taxamony, so won't be able to comment on the beastliness or lack thereof of Kapil Dev. However, as a destructive batsman Sehwag is the only one who can compare to Kapil from Indian cricket. Some of his innings are of course part of folklore like the 175 against Zimbabwe and his 77 at Lords' where he hit 4 consecutive sixers to save the follow on. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Due to poor TV coverage and crappy journalism, our cricketers before the 90s have lost out on so much of well deserved fame. As a 23 year old, Kapil blasted 89 off 55 deliveries at Lords' and was on his way to the fastest ever test hundred. He scored 89 out of the 117 runs scored while he was at the crease and is said to have hooked and pulled Botham and Willis into desperation. Wisden wrote : He immediately came out to bowl and picked up 3 wickets in England's second innings and ended up with 8 wickets and 130 runs in the match. Wisden wrote about that passage of play : In the very same series, he was on the verge of another faster than run a ball hundred at the Oval and made 97 off 93. He was of course Man of the Series having outdone an in form Botham at his home. Unsurprisingly, he was named the Wisden cricketer of the year for those performances. Sportstar ran a full length feature on the his exploits which are the only memories I have left of the innings apart from the sporadic radio commentary. The very next year he scored a faster than run a ball hundred against Holding, Marshall, Garner, and Roberts - perhaps the best fast bowling attack to have ever played in tandem. Just to show it was no fluke, he almost repeated the feat a couple of tests later when he was dismissed for 98 off 97 deliveries. With a bit more luck, he could have had 4 faster than run a ball test hundreds within a space of few months. Then there are two terribly underrated centuries of his - one in the tied Chennai test where India were struggling to save the follow on and in his own words Kapil decided to play "responsibly", possibly also to do with the fact that he was dropped from the test team a year back for playing an irresponsible shot even though he was a bowling allrounder. The result was a follow saving effort of 119 at a strike rate of 86. The striking feature of the innings was that even with the spinners in operation for a long time, he did not hit a single six. All his strokes were on the ground - 21 of them reaching the fence. It set up one of the greatest tests in history but the knock gets overshadowed by Jones and Gavaskar's innings. The second was once again against the West Indies in the Narendra Hirwani test match. The pitch was not only a rank turner, but was totally up and down as well and playing fast bowlers was not easy either. India were struggling at 150/5 when Kapil turned the match around scoring 109 of the 157 runs while he was at the crease at a strike rate of 90. It was again the temepered approach which stood out during this innings. Nothing was hit in the air. His square drives and on drives were just amazing on a two paced up and down wicket where playing drives was the most difficult thing to do. That driving was bettered at Port Elizabeth where he scored 129 out of a team total of 215 coming at number 7. The innings made a cut in the Wisden top 100 despite the obvious bias of those rankings against the losing side. Donald and Schultz were at the top of their game at the time. There were times when one felt there might be an outside chance of India pulling off a miracle win during the innings. And not meaning to be disresepctful to some of the names bandied around on this thread, no one except Sehwag can come close the destructive batting that Kapil brought and mentioning names like Yuvraj and Khurasia is frankly a joke.

one of the best posts that i have read in cricketalk forum of late..thanks Shwethab to have given the opportunity to read something with real substance other than the bickering that has been going around..a great read about the Legend Kapil Dev :)

[Gambit]

I am not very well versed in my Zoology and Taxamony, so won't be able to comment on the beastliness or lack thereof of Kapil Dev. However, as a destructive batsman Sehwag is the only one who can compare to Kapil from Indian cricket. Some of his innings are of course part of folklore like the 175 against Zimbabwe and his 77 at Lords' where he hit 4 consecutive sixers to save the follow on. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Due to poor TV coverage and crappy journalism, our cricketers before the 90s have lost out on so much of well deserved fame. As a 23 year old, Kapil blasted 89 off 55 deliveries at Lords' and was on his way to the fastest ever test hundred. He scored 89 out of the 117 runs scored while he was at the crease and is said to have hooked and pulled Botham and Willis into desperation. Wisden wrote : He immediately came out to bowl and picked up 3 wickets in England's second innings and ended up with 8 wickets and 130 runs in the match. Wisden wrote about that passage of play : In the very same series, he was on the verge of another faster than run a ball hundred at the Oval and made 97 off 93. He was of course Man of the Series having outdone an in form Botham at his home. Unsurprisingly, he was named the Wisden cricketer of the year for those performances. Sportstar ran a full length feature on the his exploits which are the only memories I have left of the innings apart from the sporadic radio commentary. The very next year he scored a faster than run a ball hundred against Holding, Marshall, Garner, and Roberts - perhaps the best fast bowling attack to have ever played in tandem. Just to show it was no fluke, he almost repeated the feat a couple of tests later when he was dismissed for 98 off 97 deliveries. With a bit more luck, he could have had 4 faster than run a ball test hundreds within a space of few months. Then there are two terribly underrated centuries of his - one in the tied Chennai test where India were struggling to save the follow on and in his own words Kapil decided to play "responsibly", possibly also to do with the fact that he was dropped from the test team a year back for playing an irresponsible shot even though he was a bowling allrounder. The result was a follow saving effort of 119 at a strike rate of 86. The striking feature of the innings was that even with the spinners in operation for a long time, he did not hit a single six. All his strokes were on the ground - 21 of them reaching the fence. It set up one of the greatest tests in history but the knock gets overshadowed by Jones and Gavaskar's innings. The second was once again against the West Indies in the Narendra Hirwani test match. The pitch was not only a rank turner, but was totally up and down as well and playing fast bowlers was not easy either. India were struggling at 150/5 when Kapil turned the match around scoring 109 of the 157 runs while he was at the crease at a strike rate of 90. It was again the temepered approach which stood out during this innings. Nothing was hit in the air. His square drives and on drives were just amazing on a two paced up and down wicket where playing drives was the most difficult thing to do. That driving was bettered at Port Elizabeth where he scored 129 out of a team total of 215 coming at number 7. The innings made a cut in the Wisden top 100 despite the obvious bias of those rankings against the losing side. Donald and Schultz were at the top of their game at the time. There were times when one felt there might be an outside chance of India pulling off a miracle win during the innings. And not meaning to be disresepctful to some of the names bandied around on this thread, no one except Sehwag can come close the destructive batting that Kapil brought and mentioning names like Yuvraj and Khurasia is frankly a joke.

Terrific post! I have read about the Beefy vs Kapil series but Beefy did hold his own by cracking the then fastest double hundred in that series.

[Aadhavzone]

I am not very well versed in my Zoology and Taxamony, so won't be able to comment on the beastliness or lack thereof of Kapil Dev. However, as a destructive batsman Sehwag is the only one who can compare to Kapil from Indian cricket. Some of his innings are of course part of folklore like the 175 against Zimbabwe and his 77 at Lords' where he hit 4 consecutive sixers to save the follow on. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Due to poor TV coverage and crappy journalism, our cricketers before the 90s have lost out on so much of well deserved fame. As a 23 year old, Kapil blasted 89 off 55 deliveries at Lords' and was on his way to the fastest ever test hundred. He scored 89 out of the 117 runs scored while he was at the crease and is said to have hooked and pulled Botham and Willis into desperation. Wisden wrote : He immediately came out to bowl and picked up 3 wickets in England's second innings and ended up with 8 wickets and 130 runs in the match. Wisden wrote about that passage of play : In the very same series, he was on the verge of another faster than run a ball hundred at the Oval and made 97 off 93. He was of course Man of the Series having outdone an in form Botham at his home. Unsurprisingly, he was named the Wisden cricketer of the year for those performances. Sportstar ran a full length feature on the his exploits which are the only memories I have left of the innings apart from the sporadic radio commentary. The very next year he scored a faster than run a ball hundred against Holding, Marshall, Garner, and Roberts - perhaps the best fast bowling attack to have ever played in tandem. Just to show it was no fluke, he almost repeated the feat a couple of tests later when he was dismissed for 98 off 97 deliveries. With a bit more luck, he could have had 4 faster than run a ball test hundreds within a space of few months. Then there are two terribly underrated centuries of his - one in the tied Chennai test where India were struggling to save the follow on and in his own words Kapil decided to play "responsibly", possibly also to do with the fact that he was dropped from the test team a year back for playing an irresponsible shot even though he was a bowling allrounder. The result was a follow saving effort of 119 at a strike rate of 86. The striking feature of the innings was that even with the spinners in operation for a long time, he did not hit a single six. All his strokes were on the ground - 21 of them reaching the fence. It set up one of the greatest tests in history but the knock gets overshadowed by Jones and Gavaskar's innings. The second was once again against the West Indies in the Narendra Hirwani test match. The pitch was not only a rank turner, but was totally up and down as well and playing fast bowlers was not easy either. India were struggling at 150/5 when Kapil turned the match around scoring 109 of the 157 runs while he was at the crease at a strike rate of 90. It was again the temepered approach which stood out during this innings. Nothing was hit in the air. His square drives and on drives were just amazing on a two paced up and down wicket where playing drives was the most difficult thing to do. That driving was bettered at Port Elizabeth where he scored 129 out of a team total of 215 coming at number 7. The innings made a cut in the Wisden top 100 despite the obvious bias of those rankings against the losing side. Donald and Schultz were at the top of their game at the time. There were times when one felt there might be an outside chance of India pulling off a miracle win during the innings. And not meaning to be disresepctful to some of the names bandied around on this thread, no one except Sehwag can come close the destructive batting that Kapil brought and mentioning names like Yuvraj and Khurasia is frankly a joke.

Really reading about Kapil sends shiver up my Spine…! What a Man… Even I feel Viru doesn't match up with Mr. Great! :hatsoff: Btw… Excellent Narration indeed!

[TSAG_RGB]

I am not very well versed in my Zoology and Taxamony, so won't be able to comment on the beastliness or lack thereof of Kapil Dev. However, as a destructive batsman Sehwag is the only one who can compare to Kapil from Indian cricket. Some of his innings are of course part of folklore like the 175 against Zimbabwe and his 77 at Lords' where he hit 4 consecutive sixers to save the follow on. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Due to poor TV coverage and crappy journalism, our cricketers before the 90s have lost out on so much of well deserved fame. As a 23 year old, Kapil blasted 89 off 55 deliveries at Lords' and was on his way to the fastest ever test hundred. He scored 89 out of the 117 runs scored while he was at the crease and is said to have hooked and pulled Botham and Willis into desperation. Wisden wrote : He immediately came out to bowl and picked up 3 wickets in England's second innings and ended up with 8 wickets and 130 runs in the match. Wisden wrote about that passage of play : In the very same series, he was on the verge of another faster than run a ball hundred at the Oval and made 97 off 93. He was of course Man of the Series having outdone an in form Botham at his home. Unsurprisingly, he was named the Wisden cricketer of the year for those performances. Sportstar ran a full length feature on the his exploits which are the only memories I have left of the innings apart from the sporadic radio commentary. The very next year he scored a faster than run a ball hundred against Holding, Marshall, Garner, and Roberts - perhaps the best fast bowling attack to have ever played in tandem. Just to show it was no fluke, he almost repeated the feat a couple of tests later when he was dismissed for 98 off 97 deliveries. With a bit more luck, he could have had 4 faster than run a ball test hundreds within a space of few months. Then there are two terribly underrated centuries of his - one in the tied Chennai test where India were struggling to save the follow on and in his own words Kapil decided to play "responsibly", possibly also to do with the fact that he was dropped from the test team a year back for playing an irresponsible shot even though he was a bowling allrounder. The result was a follow saving effort of 119 at a strike rate of 86. The striking feature of the innings was that even with the spinners in operation for a long time, he did not hit a single six. All his strokes were on the ground - 21 of them reaching the fence. It set up one of the greatest tests in history but the knock gets overshadowed by Jones and Gavaskar's innings. The second was once again against the West Indies in the Narendra Hirwani test match. The pitch was not only a rank turner, but was totally up and down as well and playing fast bowlers was not easy either. India were struggling at 150/5 when Kapil turned the match around scoring 109 of the 157 runs while he was at the crease at a strike rate of 90. It was again the temepered approach which stood out during this innings. Nothing was hit in the air. His square drives and on drives were just amazing on a two paced up and down wicket where playing drives was the most difficult thing to do. That driving was bettered at Port Elizabeth where he scored 129 out of a team total of 215 coming at number 7. The innings made a cut in the Wisden top 100 despite the obvious bias of those rankings against the losing side. Donald and Schultz were at the top of their game at the time. There were times when one felt there might be an outside chance of India pulling off a miracle win during the innings. And not meaning to be disresepctful to some of the names bandied around on this thread, no one except Sehwag can come close the destructive batting that Kapil brought and mentioning names like Yuvraj and Khurasia is frankly a joke.

Wonderful post.:hatsoff:

[newmanthepunter]

talking abt afridi guys do u still remember his debue against india in 1996 against srinath.... He creamed him all over the place in his 100.... I thought he was gonna have a monstorous test career..........

[TSAG_RGB]

C.K Nayudu too needs to be mentioned in this thread. Arguably the first big hitter of Indian cricket. Of Sixes and Pride.

[zubinpepsi]

talking abt afridi guys do u still remember his debue against india in 1996 against srinath.... He creamed him all over the place in his 100.... I thought he was gonna have a monstorous test career..........

*troll alert** someone shud include this in favourit trolls.. wat is this thread has to do with afridi.??

[DomainK]

talking abt afridi guys do u still remember his debue against india in 1996 against srinath.... He creamed him all over the place in his 100.... I thought he was gonna have a monstorous test career..........

May be if he had not debuted like that, he would have been a better batsman. Starting with that, he developed an uncivilized approach towards batting and as the crowd cheered his sixes, he became a hypocrite that always considered hitting just one six is above winning the match.

[Sachinism]

*troll alert** someone shud include this in favourit trolls.. wat is this thread has to do with afridi.??

I've added him to another list.....my ignore list :winky:

[newmanthepunter]

*troll alert** someone shud include this in favourit trolls.. wat is this thread has to do with afridi.??

Ask this to those discussing abt afridi previously :finger:

[punjabi_khota]

Ask this to those discussing abt afridi previously :finger:

Ok let me guess. OZ-Paki ?

[newmanthepunter]

Ok let me guess. OZ-Paki ?

Nah man

[Guest Gunner]

That driving was bettered at Port Elizabeth where he scored 129 out of a team total of 215 coming at number 7. The innings made a cut in the Wisden top 100 despite the obvious bias of those rankings against the losing side. Donald and Schultz were at the top of their game at the time. There were times when one felt there might be an outside chance of India pulling off a miracle win during the innings.

And outsider, I actually stayed awake to watch this innings, it was magnificent. We batted an entire day and scored 161/5 if I remember well which was the second slowest day off all times at the time of that test match. Kapil was truly a great allrounder.

[punjabi_khota]

Nah man

Yeah man. :finger:

[The Outsider]

Terrific post! I have read about the Beefy vs Kapil series but Beefy did hold his own by cracking the then fastest double hundred in that series.

It was absolutely thrilling - made more so by the fact that I have not watched a single video clip of the series. I guess the thing which threw the honors away from Botham was his insipid performance with the ball - I mean, his counterpart literally pasted him on the wall every other innings. Till then, Botham was acknowledged as the most destructive batsman specially after his Headingly innings along with Richards, but after that series there was a third aspirant, Kapil, who would do within a few months things that Botham and Richards(in FC cricket) never managed to - rack up faster than run a ball hundreds against Holding, Marshall, Garner, and Roberts.

[The Outsider]

Kapil is usually known for his love to pull and hook, one of the few Indian batsmen who could consistently do so...... however, his uniqueness lies in the way he could square drive good length deliveries out side off to the fence or (a stroke he fell leg before to way too often) the drive between mid on and mid wicket, in the air, without getting to the pitch of the ball.