Chennai always got the best out of me: Kapil Dev
India's first Cricket World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, recently appeared on WV Raman's talk show, 'Inside Out,' where he stated that he always performed exceptionally well at Chepauk. Kapil mentioned that irrespective of the format he played, Chennai always got the best out of him.
During his appearance on the talk show, Kapil Dev also remembered the 1983 World Cup match against Zimbabwe, where he single-handedly saved the day for the team. Dev played his best ODI knock, slamming an unbeaten 175* to power India to a 31-run win.
I always performed my best in Chennai: Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev is one of the best all-rounders to have played for the Indian cricket team. The 61-year-old had represented the country in 225 ODIs and 131 Tests. He scored over 8,000 runs in international cricket, while also being the only Indian pace bowler with over 400 Test wickets.
Talking about his performance at Chepauk, Kapil featured in 11 Tests played at the MA Chidarambam Stadium, scoring 708 runs at an average of 54.46. With the ball, he scalped 40 wickets that included two five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul. He reflected on his excellent record at this ground and said:
"Be it a first-class game or an ODI or a Test, playing in Chennai always got the best out of me. I always performed my best in Chennai, and coming to play there was great. The weather may be relentless with its heat, but my performances were always good."
He even recalled his epic partnership with Syed Kirmani during the 1983 World Cup game against Zimbabwe. The duo had added 126 runs for the ninth wicket, which remains the best Indian ODI partnership for that wicket.
"I got to the individual score of 175 only after hitting in the last 7 overs. Before that the situation was very tense. We had defeated teams like West Indies and Australia in that tournament but we were struggling against Zimbabwe. Me and Kiri (Syed Kirmani) must have got about 100 runs in the last 7 overs and that helped us notch up a good score," Kapil Dev stated.
The former Indian all-rounder also spent a lot of time with Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh recently as the actor will play his role in the movie based on the Indian cricket team's first World Cup win.