He also scored 5248 runs at an average of 31. Away average 26.
In winning matches, averaged 18 with the ball and 33 with the bat (24 matches).
He took 219 wickets in India ( 65 matches) at an average of 26 .
His bowling average vs West Indies (the best team of his era) was 25 and in West Indies was 23 (best amongst his averages against all countries).
Won 3 MoM awards in matches India won (total 8) but also played in pre-MoM era for a bit.
Captained India in 34 matches (won 4, lost 7, drew 22, tied 1) with a success percentage of 12. Averaged 32 with the bat and 26 with the ball as captain.
Kapil Dev is the most talented cricketer India has ever produced. Had he been a pure batsman, India would probably have found a Sehwag long back. He was that gifted with the bat - whether it be the 129 runs he made when his team was 31-6, or the 23 runs he made in 10 balls in a particularly tense fourth innings chase to clinch the match, or the 4 consecutive sixes he hit off Hemmings to avoid a follow on, or the 26 runs he struck in a low scoring fourth innings chase when 41 was required - there are quite a few examples of his genius exploding at the right time. The trouble was consistency and a lack of mental application to something he probably just saw as an additional skill. He was India's premier bowler after all, for a decade and a half, never missing a single match due to injury at any stage. With more pace than any Indian had mustered up consistently in its international history, and a world-famous outswinger, he was the world record holder of maximum Test wickets when he retired. On the flat tracks of India (which produced high scoring three innings draws for a lot of the 1980s) he took 219 wickets with hardly any consistent support at the other end (20 different partners at the other end). Even abroad, despite the very few successes his team had, India was more competitive than before purely because of his bowling presence at the top. And yet, notwithstanding the many memorable moments provided by Kapil Dev in his career, his achievements did not take his team to great heights overall (in Tests). Even individually, he was not the most effective all-rounder of his era amongst the four he was compared to. Imran and Botham had more consistent batting results, Hadlee, Imran and Botham all had more bowling moments of glory than him, especially when their teams won. On pure natural talent, Kapil was probably more blessed than all three of them, but somewhere the results didn't add up. His big heart was perhaps not complemented well by his overly cavalier spirit, which prevented the optimisation of his talents in a team context. Despite all that he still was a very rare breed in Indian cricket - a world class all-rounder, the best the country ever produced. For that and for the many pure unadulterated moments of joy he provided he will always be amongst the most loved cricketers in Indian cricket history.
| 1-0 ahead in the second-last Test, so India strengthened the batting and went with just four bowlers in this Test. They did a great job though and dismissed Pakistan for 272 in the first innings (Kapil Dev 4-90). Gavaskar wore down the Pakistan bowling with | a quintessential 166 in almost ten hours of batting. Kapil came in at 279-6 with the match very much in the balance. His 84 (off 98 balls with 13 fours and 1 six) and Binny's 42 (off 45 balls) hammered the tired bowling to reduce them to rubble. India reached 430 and | was in charge. A demoralised Pakistan then had to face a charged-up Kapil who tore through their defences to take 7-56. India made the 76 runs required to win for no loss and took the series 2-0. |
| In the series opener, England was in trouble after choosing to bat first. 96-4 they were, with Kapil Dev having taken all four wickets. Even at 166-6, very uncharacteristically, it looked like a great beginning for India. Derek Randall (127) along with Botham and Edmonds fought back and took England to 433. Botham, Willis and Pringle then tore India apart for just 128. Only two batsmen reached double figures - Gavaskar 48 and Kapil Dev (41 - a responsible innings off 69 balls | with 4 fours). India followed on and Vengsarkar played a lone hand - a stirring innings of 157, where he dominated the bowling till he was out at 252. Kapil Dev walked out at 252-6 with the match all but over. This time there seemed little point in being responsible - he cut loose with complete abandon. In just over an hour, with meagre support from the tailenders, he hammered 89 off 55 balls with 13 fours and 3 sixes. The spectacular assault was loudly cheered by more than 50,000 | English supporters, secure in the belief that none of this would have any impact on the result. Kapil was last out at 369 (almost scoring the fastest hundred of all time), leaving England just 65 to win. With just about 5 overs till the close, it was all expected to be a formality. But in 8 balls, a highly charged Kapil Dev knocked over 3 English wickets to top off a memorable day of Test cricket. England was 23-3 at close but knocked off the remaining runs the next day without further loss. |
| A dodgy pitch with variable bounce provided a strange start to the series. India batted first and was 112-5 when Kapil Dev walked out to replace the highest scorer Gavaskar, just out for 55. In an hour, he and Kirti Azad had added 52, out of which Kapil had made 38 off 50 balls with 8 fours. After dismissing the Indians for 179, the | English came back strongly with 95-1 when Dilip Doshi ran through the innings and the innings terminated at 166. Botham put the Indians under the hammer in the second innings and they were 138-6 when Kapil Dev came out to bat, just 151 ahead. Despite losing two more wickets soon, Kapil played another blinder of an innings, showing | more intent than any batsman had so far in the match - highest-scoring with 46 (off 50 balls, 5 fours). England was set 241 to win, but rolled over for 102 - Kapil Dev breaking their back with 5-70, utilising his famed outswingers. The next five Tests in the series were quintessential 1980s high scoring draws. |
| An intensely fought gripping Test that ended sensationally. After India's modest 237 (embellished by Viswanath's magnificent 114) Australia had made 419. India came back and fought hard - the openers putting on 165 till captain Gavaskar was wrongly given out (amongst sensational circumstances when he almost conceded the match in anger). The others took the score to 324 setting Australia just 143 to win. Kapil Dev and | Yadav were injured and were expected to take no further part in the match. Ghavri and the spinner Doshi opened proceedings for India, going through the motions of a formality. No one expected what was to follow. The wicket had begun to crack up and was behaving unpredictably. In no time, Australia was 18-3, and most debilitatingly Greg Chappell bowled first ball behind his legs by Ghavri. Australia ended the day at 24-3, still expecting | to win, but a little shaken up. Next day, in walked an injured Kapil Dev, having taken injections to keep his thigh injury at bay for a couple of hours. He bowled unchanged, deadly accurate and unwavering, and in a little over two hours took 5-23 to knock Australia out for 83. India astonishingly won by 43 runs and drew a series in Australia for the first time. |
| Captain Kapil Dev, brimming with positivity (despite being 0-1 down), strengthened his team's bowling at the cost of batting and opted to field first on a newly laid pitch after winning the toss. When West Indies was 27-3, it looked good for India. Despite occasional recoveries, even 190-8 would have been taken by the Indians. But wicketkeeper Dujon played one of his finest Test innings; his 98 propelled West Indies to 281. India started | brilliantly - Gavaskar made 40 of the first 50 runs in 9 overs, carrying on from the dazzling form of his last Test. The opening stand yielded 127 but both openers were dismissed by 148. It was pedestrian after that, as wickets kept falling regularly. Kapil Dev came in at 197-5 and tried to inject his urgency - scoring 31 of the next 44 runs. But he and India were both dismissed at 241. Sandhu got the first West Indian wicket to fall, but thereafter it was Kapil Dev | all the way. He bowled unchanged for 20 overs and took the next 6 wickets to reduce West Indies to 152-7 at the end of the third day. The lower order added valuable runs the next day, and set India 242 to win. But India was soon 39-7 and the match was pretty much over. West Indies won by 138 runs eventually, and went ahead 2-0 in the series (which they eventually would win 3-0). |
HONOURABLE MENTION:
| Considered one of the great innings by an Indian but does not make our main list because of the match situation. India go in to bat in the second innings, 63 runs behind. Donald and Schultz destroy the Indian top order and reduce India to 31-6, the match pretty much over. Kapil Dev stabilises the situation | first, despite an injured right hand. Then, with the license to do what he likes in this hopeless situation (not that any situation ever stopped him from doing what he liked) opens up and produces a devastating counter-attack reminiscent of his famous 175* in the 1983 World Cup (this time he came in | at 27-5). Combining powerful drives with potent leg-side shots, he takes thescore to 215, when he is last out for 129 (180 balls, 14 fours, 1 six). South Africa score 155-1 and win comfortably (the major difference between this and that 175 innings). |