"The most charismatic all-rounder ever" - Cricket fraternity extends birthday wishes as Kapil Dev turns 65
The cricket community extended warm wishes to legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev as he turned 65 today (January 6).
The former Indian captain retired from the sport in 1994 after a storied career. Kapil Dev played 131 matches in his 16-year Test career and picked up 434 wickets at an average of 29.64, including 23 five-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket hauls.
With the bat, he accumulated 5,248 runs at an average of 31.05, including eight centuries and 27 half-centuries.
In the ODI format, he picked up 253 wickets and scored 3,783 runs across 225 games. The ODI against West Indies on October 17, 1994, in Faridabad was his final match in International cricket. With the ball, he ended with a spell of 10-0-54-1 and scored 12 (18), batting at No. 7.
Kapil Dev etched his name in India's sporting folklore by winning the 1983 ODI World Cup. He did so at the age of 24 and is also the youngest captain to achieve the feat until now.
On the occasion of Kapil Dev's birthday, Sachin led the way with a special post on X before others joined him.
Here are some of the wishes:
Kapil Dev comments on India's loss in the 2023 World Cup final vs Australia
Dev opined that Indian fans are emotional and urged them not to create too much hype and have some balance with the expectations. Commenting on the reaction of fans after India's loss in the 2023 World Cup final against Australia, Kapil was quoted as saying by PTI:
"Don't keep so much hope that people end up with broken hearts. We need to keep a balance. Other teams also came to India to compete in the World Cup. We shouldn't create so much hype. We need to look at sports as sports only. Whoever plays good on the day, we need to respect that. We are too emotional.”
Empathizing with the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team, he added:
"They (India) won 10 matches in a row. Is it not enough? We should look at other teams as well. We shouldn't compare anyone. What is important is to see whether they played good cricket or not. We played very good cricket.
"The final day was not ours so be it. We should look at the performances of other teams as well like, South Africa, England who were the defending champions, they finished last (seventh).