Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (born 6 January 1959) is an Indian former cricketer. He is a fast-medium bowler, hard he is a hitter and medium order batsman and in 2002 was named Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden.
Dev captained the Indian cricket team that won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 and in the process became the first Indian captain to win the Cricket World Cup and the youngest team to win the World Cup. He retired in 1994 and held the world record for the most wickets in Test cricket, a record that was later broken in 2000 by Courtney Walsh. At that time he was also India’s best wicket-taker in both the main forms of cricket, the Test, and his ODI. He is the first player to score his 200 ODI wickets. He is the only player in cricket history to have won more than 400 wickets (434) and scored more than 5,000 runs in Tests, making him one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history. Dev’s all-around performances have been praised by cricketers, including his Sunil Gavaskar, who regard him as one of the best all-rounders in the game. From September 1999 he coached the Indian national team until September 2000. On 11 March 2010, Dev announced that he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and awarded Padma Shri in 1982 and Padma Bhushan in 1991.
Kapil dev Ramlal Nikhanj was born on 6th January 1959 in Chandigarh to teak merchant Ram Lal Nikhanj and his wife Rajkumari. His family moved to Fazirka after the split and eventually to Chandigarh. His paternal family was from Montgomery (now known as Sahiwal) and his mother was born in Pakpattan, Ocala. Dev said he was a student at D.A.V. school.
Kapil Dev played county cricket for Northamptonshire, England in 1981-1983 and Worcestershire in the 1984-1985 season. He played a total of 40 first-class matches in his stint with the county, scoring 2,312 runs in 64 innings and fourteen half-centuries. Dev made his debut as India’s captain in the 1982/83 season against Sri Lanka (before the Pakistan tour), where Gavaskar rested. His first stint as regular captain was in the West Indies Tour, and his greatest achievement was his only win at the ODI.
After the World Cup, India hosted the West India Cricket Team, which they lost in the Test series 3–0 and his ODI series 5–0. Dev delivered his best Test bowling performance in the loss with a return of 9/83 at Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. His bowling performances in the Test and ODI series were disappointed by poor batting performances. The Selectors ended Dev’s reign in early 1984 by reappointing Gavaskar as captain.
