The legendary Indian cricketer Kapil Dev has suffered a heart attack and emergency coronary angioplasty was carried out in the middle of the night. The good news is that his condition is stable as of now and the whole world is wishing him a speedy recovery through social media networks. Let us tell you some really cool facts about the veteran cricketer who led the Indian team in its first World Cup victory.

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1. Kapil Dev’s complete name is Kapil Dev Nikhanj and he was born to Ram Lal Nikhanj and Raj Kumari Ram Lal Nikhanj on on 6th Jan 1959

Kapil Dev & Cricket

2. Kapil Dev was also called as The Haryana Hurricane because of his super fast bowling.

3. He made his first class debut in Nov, 1975 for the Indian state of Haryana against Punjab. He took six wickets in that match because of which the Punjab team was able to score only 63 runs. In his first season of first class cricket (1975-76) Kapil Dev played 30 matches and took total 121 wickets.

4. Kapil Dev had a pretty long domestic career of 17 years (1975-1992).

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International Debut

5.Kapil Dev’s international debut was against the India’s arch rivals, Pakistan in Oct, 1978 at Faisalabad. Though, Kapil Dev managed to impress everyone including the Pakistani batsmen with his line, length and pace, he didn’t had a dream debut as he got only one wicket of Sadiq Mohammad in the test match which got drawn.

6.Kapil Dev holds the record of never getting run out in his long career of 184 test innings.

7.The Haryana cricketer was the youngest test cricketer to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets.

1983 World Cup

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8.Kapil Dev was the skipper of the Indian cricket team which won the first World Cup in 1983. His superb innings of 175 against Zimbabwe is counted as one of the best innings of all times.

9.It was on 8th Feb 1994 that Kapil Dev surpassed Richard Hadlee’s record of taking highest wickets (431). Kapil’s 432nd target was Hashan Tillakaratne of Sri Lanka and Kapil Dev got retired with 434 wickets. Kapil Dev’s record was broken by West Indian pacer Courtney Walsh in the year 2000.

10.In his long international career of 16 years he played 131 test matches and never missed any test match due to injury which is certainly a big achievement.

11.Kapil Dev was commissioned as honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Territorial Army in the year 2008.

12.Wisden named him Cricketer of the Century in the year 2002 for which he left behind not only his contemporary Sunil Gavaskar but also the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

Personal Life

13.Kapil Dev got married to Romi Bhatia in 1980. He proposed her during a train journey but in an unusual manner as he asked her that does she want to click the photo of this place so that they can show this to their kids. The couple have a daughter whom they have named as Amiya.

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14.It is being said Kapil Dev dated Bollywood actress Sarika before he tied knot with Romi.

15.Kapil Dev also holds the record of being the first and only cricketer to complete his first test century with a six in 1979 which was against the West Indies.

Kapil Dev & Movies

16.Kapil Dev has done some small roles in few Bollywood movies such as Stumped, Chain Kulli ki main Kulli, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Iqbal and others.

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17.Bollywood director Kabir Khan’s upcoming movie 83 is based on the 1983 World Cup victory and actor Ranveer Singh is playing the character of Kapil Dev.