Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj

[Dhondy]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj OK, now the rest of you pull your fingers out of your @ss and write some similar articles on Indian or any other greats that you feel fit the bill. :hic: C'mon now, I want volunteers! :ninja:

[Predator_05]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Nice one Lurker. For someone like me who only saw Kapil live when he was on his last legs, articles like these make me appreciate the quality of his cricket. I really don't have any memories of him playing other than a wicket or two he took in the '94 Hero Cup, and your words do a decent job of illustrating the aura of Kapil and the magic associated with his fire-brand style of play. Good stuff. I am sure he must have been the Tendulkar of the 80's; everyone's favourite cricketer, singlehandedly dragging the crowds to the stadiums.

[The Outsider]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Awesome read, Lurker. Excellently written as always. My favourite moment of Kapil Dev has got to be the tied Madras test match of '86. He played a superb counterattacking innings to save the followon. Looked like he was onto something special right from the first ball he faced. Moreover, taking up the challenge of chasing 350+ on the last day of a test in India spoke of guts. Too bad he got out playing a rash shot during the run chase or else we would have won that test. BTW, that series was also the start of the decline of him as a bowler. He did not take a single wicket in the three tests.

[Holysmoke]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Thanks lurker.. great article.. for someone who never saw Kapil live, articles like this, and youtube.. is all i have to see the greatest Indian cricketer ever..(According to you guys.. i still think its Tendulkar :hic: )

[Cricketics]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj one of the few forgetable momentz of Kapilz Carrier would be when he cried on television over match fixing allegationz.. i am not sure if u mentioned that, if u want to u can add. but then again it was a negative one, i am not sure if u would be keen on adding that..

[Lurker]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj

Lurker ' date='with all due respect , while I would agree that botham and kapil would get one's pulse racing , I feel it was only in the batting department . In fact , as a cricket fan , both these bowlers would not get my pulse racing the way Imran or Hadlee could. Between 1979 to 1983 , Imran khan was one of the fastest bowlers in the world. And the destructive nature of his bowling was clearly abundant when the famed Indian batting except Mohinder Amarnath had no clue how to play Imran in 1982/83 series. [/quote'] KR, A couple of things here. Firstly Kapil was an all-rounder and not only a pace bowler so obviously if the question arises as to who would send my pulse racing I would have to consider both his batting as well as bowling. And I dare say I would have paid to watch Kapil(and Botham) for his batting alone. After all how many all-rounders have been able to get their name in top 100 innings of all time? Botham has 1(Headingley innings), Hadlee none and Imran none. Kapil has 2 - 175* for LOI and his Test century in South Africa against Donald at his peak. Now Wisden ranking is not the sole criteria for me but just a pointer of how there was a world of difference between a Kapil Dev and say an Imran Khan when it comes to batting. On bowling front, yes I would agree that Kapil at times lacked the fire of Imran, certainly so in 1982/83 when Imran had his best series ever. What you would have to remember though is even in this series Imran had a solid support attack. Sarfaraz took 19 wickets and Qadir 11 wickets. On the other hand the second best from Indian side was 8 wickets. As the cliche goes fast bowlers hunt in pairs, a luxury Kapil never had. Incidentally as we are discussing this I read an interview of TA Shekhar at MRF Pace Foundation. Here is what he says..

Q: Amongst the Indian fast bowlers, who was the best? TA Sekhar: Kapil was a great swing bowler. He had the art of swinging the ball in all conditions. I consider him as the best bowler in the world during the late 70?s and whole of 80s. He never depended on conducive conditions. He took more than 200 wickets on the sub-continent. I don?t think any other bowler has done so. In my opinion, Kapil is one of the greatest bowlers that the game has ever seen. He troubled the best of batsmen and had he played for a country like Australia, he would have remained the highest wicket-taker in both versions of the game. Q: How could Kapil remain injury-free? TA Sekhar: The reason that Kapil was not rested for injury problems in his days was because he is a great athlete. Kapil?s forte was a nice run-up, good leap and a beautiful action. He was also strong on technique. His ball sense was excellent and eye-coordination was brilliant. Kapil is one of the few sportsmen who could have become a world-beater in any discipline be it athletics or football or any other game for that matter. Kapil was not a guy who would dive to take a catch. Even today, people talk about the way he took the catch to dismiss Vivian Richards in the 1983 World Cup final.

http://www.cricketnext.com/news/lillee-behind-rise-of-indian-pacers/24813-14-single.html It is strange to hear someone like Shekhar mention this when he works exclusively with Dennis Lillee and sings hosanas of the Aussie. Also his own knowledge of the game is widely respected. Just thought I shall share it with you. xxxxx

[King]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Kapil Dev to me is like Sehwag as a batter and Pollock as a bowler wrapped into one. I've seen some real good batting and bowling by Kapil Dev.

[The Outsider]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Kapil Dev also suffered from the fact that not only a good fast bowling partner, he did not even have a top notch spinner in the attack. Doshi was good but was already past his best by the time he debuted. Ghavri was okay but did not play for too long with Kapil either and he was also approaching 30 at the time. To accompany journeymen in the pace bowling department he had more journeymen in the spin department. More often than not after his first spell in which he would pick up 2-3 wickets, the opposition's middle order would get set against ordinary bowling to make Kapil's job all the more harder. His record would have been much better if he had someone like Kumble for support.

[Lurker]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Ravi, On an aside note who are the cricket players that are held in great esteem in New Zealand? I mean specifically players of NZ origin? Players like Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe, Shane Bond and Stephen Fleming, Andrew Jones and John Wright are well known names but who are the others? I would like to think John Reid is greatly celebrated as was Martin Donnely. In fast bowling maybe Collinge and Dick Motz. It would be perhaps an interesting idea to make an all-time NZ XI and see who makes it in. Richard Hadlee would open the bowling with Shane Bond....a class attack that one. xxxx

[dial_100]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Excellent post. One thing I wanted just bring to you notice that he was a very good sportsman. He was known for his sportmanship. I remember one incidence where he warned the runner not to run before he bowls, when the runner persisted with this attitude, he told umpire and next time he got him out. That was real sportmanship. I like him more for this reason. Lurks...a very good article. I like your style of writing.. :wtg:

[chanakya]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj ^^ Kirsten when India toured SA for the first time after SA came back after apatheid

[Bumper]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Excellent stuff mate. Particularly enjoyed this para.

But it is not stats that defined Kapil Dev. It was how he played his game. A particular incident that suffice. In an International match against West Indies(this happened at a time when Windies were undoubted world champions) Kapil was bounced by Michael Holding. His response? A Natraj patented hook shot sending the ball over the square leg for a huge six. Then coming back to bowl and hitting Holding square on the helmet. If ever there was a cricket statement, almost like a gangster movie with the protagonist shoving a finger in your face with a "What are you gonna do now tough guy?". Indeed if the measure of the greatness of a player is how he performs against the best team of his time Kapil's record is perhaps the best of them all. 89 wickets@ 25 with career best 9/83 and 1079 runs@31 against West Indians. In fact Kapil reservd some of his best performances specially for World Champions. In a LOI game at Berbice he slaughtered 72 off 38 deliveries, then came back to take 2/33 as West Indies were beaten first time at home. His leadership in 1983 WC is now part of the folklore as is his spectacular catch of viv Richards that effectively put West Indies on the backfoot.Then when a wounded West Indies team toured India for redemeption Kapil Dev faught a lone battle, 29 wickets@18 better than the likes of Marshall, Holding, Roberts, Daniel, Davis. Even towards the ***** end of his career he had one last hurrah left in him as he notched 18 wickets in 4 tests@21 in 1989.

[kumble_rocks]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj

But it is not stats that defined Kapil Dev.

Going by this logic Lara is a far better batsmen than Tendulkar. I am sure you guys will agree ! :hic:

[Lurker]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj

Going by this logic Lara is a far better batsmen than Tendulkar. I am sure you guys will agree ! :hic:

KR, Had you asked that question say 3-4 years back the answer would have been resounding in Tendulkar's favour, today you would be surprised how much damage has happened. I would go in to say that in late 90's nd early 2000's 75% of fans would have answered in SRT's favour while 25% in Lara's. Today do not be surprised if its the other way around...I know I wouldnt be surprised. xxxx

[Predator_05]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Lurker, how do you think Kapil compares to the other three all-rounders of his generation ? When he was asked this question by Tim Bonnet of the BBC, he casually replied; "All the way at the bottom". Was he being humble or frank ?

[Lurker]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj

Lurker' date=' how do you think Kapil compares to the other three all-rounders of his generation ? When he was asked this question by Tim Bonnet of the BBC, he casually replied; "All the way at the bottom". Was he being humble or frank ?[/quote'] Predator. Kapil always says that and I can only attest it to the man's humbleness. Kapil is a humble man at heart and inspite of all his records he has never had the false air(something which Sunny Gavaskar carried in abundance). A good example is how he till date takes little credit for India's 1983 WC triumph. Even though by most accounts it was his inspiring leadership(not to mention him having played the best innings in WC history, then and now, and one of the all-time greatest, and certainly the most important, catch). On the other hand you have Imran Khan who would start proclaiming the moment he won the cup about his hospital, his works blah blah which would lead to a revolt and eventual retirement of Imran. I mention Imran because obviously Kapil and Imran are the only WC winning all-rounders. Now to the point of comparison. There are two aspects to it. LOI and Test cricket. Since all four played sufficient amount of Test and LOI cricket I beleive we can make a fair comparison. In LOI Kapil Dev was the best all-rounder. Period. He has the best economy rate(aside from Hadlee), best batting strike rate and was easily the best fielder. I am not sure if you are aware of PWC ratings. But that was the official ratings that was bought by ICC and is now LG ratings. On that Kapil's graph was better than all of the others. And it is not shocking really. Kapil has played more match winning innings in LOI than any other all-rounders, played more all-around game(where he would score quickfire 30 odds and take 2-3 quick wickets). Hadlee and Botham were let downs in LOI format and Imran had moments only as a bowler. His best innings came in 1992 WC finals which frankly I havent rated. But for Akram and Inzzy Pakistan had lost the game that night. Onto Test cricket now. I would say for test cricket bowling my ranking would be - Hadlee(best), Imran, Kapil, Botham(worst). Ranking for batting would be - Botham(best), Kapil, Imran, Hadlee(worst). Fielding would be - Kapil(best), Botham, Hadlee, Imran(worst) and for skippership it would be - Imran(best), Kapil, Botham, Hadlee(worst). Overall for Test all-rounder it would be a toss up between Kapil and Imran. Imran would nudge Kapil because his stats certainly are too hard to ignore and Kapil,in my opinion, played a tad too long that screwed his stats a bit. And if u ask me to pick one all-rounder in my team that shall play regardless of the format I shall pick Kapil Dev. xxxx

[doubt]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj excellent writeup dude

[kabira]

Re: Hall of Fame - Kapil Dev Nikhanj Mr. Doubt, welcome to the world of indian cricket fans. Kindly introduce yourself in introduction thread at the top.