Around the same time, Kapil Dev came to our school and faced our school team single handedly. He hit sixes all over the school ground which delighted me as a class 2 student. Then, he paced along and took all the wickets. Most of them were clean bowled. It was a tremendous sight.
Another wicket falls for India. Due to bat is the great Kapil Dev. Suddenly, there is an excitement in the ground. Long legs Kapil comes out. He stretches his arms, bat in hand. The bat looks so tiny compared to his massive frame. Anticipation. He plays a defensive shot. The crowd 'oohs'. The next ball, he plunges forward and smashes one over cow corner for a massive six. Awe, wonder. Then, another attempt to drive it past extra cover. A miss this time. Then, another smack over deep mid wicket but alas, caught this time. This was the usual style and result of a Kapil inning 1992-1994. However, it made you believe as a young fan that he could do just about any thing as a batsman. That he hardly ever did didn't matter as we were struck by the persona and the sheer possibility of breaking down barriers.
Kapil had done the impossible all through his career. A 175* in Tunbridge Wells which got us out of a tricky situation versus Zimbabwe to help India qualify for the semis. A loss would have meant that we would have to face Australia in a playoff. To add to the folklore, the BBC, who were broadcasting the match, had a strike that day. So, there is no footage of the game. We went on to win that World Cup in the captaincy of Kapil Dev. He took that tremendous catch of Viv Richards. He reached 200 test wickets rapidly. He was also extremely fit, so much so that he missed just one test through his career, and that too, because of disciplinary reasons. When India needed 24 to avoid the follow on once, he hit 4 sixes on the trot. We always rooted for Kapil because Kapil could do just about any thing.
In 1994, he broke another barrier - the record of most test wickets by any player. Richard Hadlee had held the record till then with 431 test wickets. Kapil finished with 434. The walls on the streets around our house were lined with posters and newspaper clippings. We had not seen a celebration in Indian cricket like this. Kapil was the greatest bowler as he had broken the record of Richard Hadlee, the greatest bowler till then. We didn't care as kids that the wickets in the last stretch of his career came at a snail's pace. Averages can be ignored in euphoric times like these.
Maybe Gavaskar made the earlier generation believe that Indians could face fast bowlers. Tendulkar made us believe later that we could win any match. However, for cricket fans starting out in 1991 or so like me, Kapil was the hero. He made us believe that any thing is possible. He aimed for the skies and some times, he reached even beyond.
