Kapil Dev suffers heart attack, undergoes angioplasty
Former Indian cricketer and the nation’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, on Friday suffered a heart attack and underwent an angioplasty in at Fortis Hospital in Okhla in New Delhi, according to media reports. An official statement is yet to be released.
Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) President Ashok Malhotra told PTI that Kapil was feeling unwell on Thursday following which he was taken to the hospital.
“He is feeling okay now. I just spoke to his wife (Romi). He was feeling uneasy yesterday. He is undergoing check-ups at a hospital as we speak,” Malhotra, also a former Test player, said.
Kapil, who made his international debut in 1978, has played 131 Tests for India, scoring 5258 runs with eight centuries and took 434 wickets with 23 five-wicket hauls and two ten-fers. The former all-rounder remains the only cricketer in world cricket to have achieved the Test double of 5000 runs and 400 wickets. He also featured in 225 ODI matches, scoring 3783 runs with 15 half-century-plus scores and took 253 wickets at an average of 27.45.
He replaced Sunil Gavaskar as India’s captain during the 1982/83 season and was named as the skipper for the 1983 World Cup which was held in England, leading to team to their maiden international glory, beating the mighty West Indies side in a low-scoring summit clash at the iconic Lord’s.
He retired from cricket in 1994. He was the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket at that time while also being India’s leading wicket-taker in both the formats then.
He also coached the Indian team for a brief period between 1999 and 2000, and also served as the chairman of National Cricket Academy between 2006 and 2008. In 2010, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.