I Decided To Become 'Fast Bowler' To Prove Negative People Wrong: Kapil Dev
Published - 16 Jul 2020, 03:44 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:31 AM
Kapil Dev was the greatest match winners of the Indian cricket team. Dev was blessed with incredible skills with both bat and ball which made him the one of the greatest all-rounders of all-time. He lead India to their first World Cup triumph in 1983. Courtesy of that triumph, Team India was reborn, as they were seen as a dominant force on the international circuit.
Kapil Dev broke into the U-19 setup as a fast bowler. But during the camp, the officials were not convinced when the Haryana youngster called himself a fast bowler, as they reckoned India never had one before. Dev said that he took it as a challenge and made sure to prove the officials wrong. He also said that he always liked to prove ‘negative people’ wrong.
“The real change happened when I went for the under 19 camp. You know in the camps, sometimes officials come hard at you. So I had some argument with an official. He said ‘What do you do?’, I said ‘I’m a fast bowler’. ‘India never had a fast bowler,’ was his reply. So rather than encouraging, they discouraged me. I took up the challenge and said to myself, ‘One day I will become a fast bowler to show him, to prove him wrong’. I always liked to prove certain negative people wrong and that’s how the fast bowling started,” Kapil told former India opener and current women’s team coach WV Raman in a YouTube interview.
Besides becoming one of the successful captain himself, Dev started playing under the captaincy of Bishan Singh Bedi. He also played under Sunil Gavaskar and S Venkataraghavan.
Dev achieved immense success with his bowling prowess. He picked up 434 Test wickets at an average nearly 30. In ODIs, he picked up 253 wickets at an average of 27.54.
