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The deep seed was sown by Kapil Dev’s team winning the championship by defeating the then monster West Indies in the World Cup held in England in 1983, for the growth of all types of cricket competitions including IPL in India today. From his 175* against Zimbabwe to his run-away catch by Richards in the final, Kapil Dev, who was instrumental in winning the 1983 World Cup, is credited with many historic victories for India throughout his career.
He made his debut in 1978 and took 434 wickets and 5248 runs in Test cricket and 253 wickets and 3783 runs in ODI cricket. Asian players, who are usually more committed to cricket, may stumble at the end of their careers due to age, but unlike foreign players, they can retire easily.
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Retirement Adam:
After 1990, Kapil Dev, who had come a round in world cricket, was criticized for his retirement. However, he took his 400th Test wicket in 1991/92 in an attempt to surpass New Zealand legend Richard Hadley’s then world record of 431 Test wickets. But after nearly 2 years of stumbling to touch it, the BCCI backed him as the Indian would be bested by the World Record Force.
Eventually, he broke the world record in a Test match against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad and was expected to retire as well. But the then head of selectors and former player Anushman Gaikwad said that he did not expect Kapil Dev to announce that he would play for two more years after that match. However, Gundappa Vishwanath, another legend who was included in the selection committee, has said that he talked to Kapil Dev and made him agree to retire as it would be better for him to retire before the BCCI removes him.
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Here is what he talked about in a recent interview: “You can’t fire a big player like him. So we let him play in the Test series against Sri Lanka. He broke the world record in the Ahmedabad Test. We thought he would announce his retirement then. But in a press conference later that evening, he announced that he would play for two more years. The next day Gundappa Vishwanath said to me with displeasure, “Look at the headlines about Kapil Dev playing for 2 more years.”
A man with a real golden touch to ???????? Cricket. His batting was more of patience, guts-&-glory than elegance. His moment of glory came in Sabina Park ’76 where he resisted pain & agony to come up triumph. Sunny G’s most trusted opening partner, too ????#HBD Anshuman Gaekwad sir pic.twitter.com/uxYqyYbDya
— North Stand Gang – Wankhede (@NorthStandGang) September 23, 2021
“Then in the evening of that day, a selection committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of BCCI secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya. In which we decided to remove the Kapil requirement. However, I suggested to Dalmiya that Gundappa Vishwanath could be sent to talk to Kapil Dev about this. After that we approached Kapil on demand during tea time. Vishwanath hesitated to address it directly to him as he moved here and there, so I started the conversation.”
“Then you know the Cubs selection committee has decided to cut you. If you want, we will send you the route. But we told Kapil Dev that the time has come for you to take the final decision. To which Kapil Dev replied “Thank you very much I appreciate what you told me. Sometimes one has to do something like this. “I will do that,” he replied. But it is noteworthy that Kapil Dev retired in 1994 after playing a few matches in New Zealand and at home against the West Indies.
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