Bio

Kapil Dev was born as Kapil Dev Nikhanj. In November 1975, he made an impressive debut for Haryana against Punjab with a 6 wicket haul. He was named as Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden in 2002. He led India to victory in the 1983 World Cup. He also broke Richard Hadlee’s world-record in Test wickets. His stamina as a marathon runner made him take 431 wickets. In 1994, he retired while holding the world record for the most number of wickets taken in Test cricket. That record was broken by Courtney Walsh in 2000.

He was Indian team’s coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000. He resigned as coach due to an allegation of match-fixing by Manoj Prabhakar. The case was later on dismissed but hurt by the betting controversy, he left the game. He returned to cricket as a bowling coach in the preparatory camp prior to India's tour of Pakistan in March 2004. After that, he served as chairman of National Cricket Academy for two years. He was removed from that post when he joined the breakaway Indian Cricket League in May 2007.