Kapil Dev recovers after a suspected heart attack
By Kersi Meher-Homji
Kapil Dev, one of the greatest all-rounders in Test annals, suffered a suspected heart attack on Thursday the 22nd October. He was rushed to a hospital’s emergency ward where he underwent coronary angioplasty by Dr Atul Mathur.
Fortunately, everything was found normal and he was discharged from the hospital four days later on Monday the 26th.
Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar were among other cricketers to send get well greeting on social media to their hero and master, “Paaji” Kapil.
Kapil, now aged 61, is unique. The only Indian fast bowler to dominate the international scene for over a decade, he is the only all-rounder to achieve the Test double of 5000 runs and 400 wickets, the youngest to achieve the Test double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets and the first all-rounder to play 100 Tests.
In July 2002 he was chosen by a panel of 32 international judges as the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century ahead of legends Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and the spin trio of EAS Prasanna, Bishan Bedi and BS Chandrasekhar.
He was an economic fast bowler but a flamboyant batsman. As I had written in my book Cricket’s Great All-rounders (2008), “Bowling was his wife, his life, his 10 to 6 job, his bread and butter. Batting was his mistress, his indulgence.”
Under his captaincy, India won her first World Cup at Lords, England in 1983. That year he was made one of five Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year.
He coached the Indian cricket team in 1999 and 2000 and was induced into International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame in 2010.
He was one of the four outstanding Test all-rounders of his period along with England’s Ian Botham, New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee and Pakistan’s Imran Khan. What a quartet!
We all hope and pray for “Paaji” Kapil’s quick and complete recovery.
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