The Haryana Hurricane, Living Cricket Legend by Ram Kommana, 7th Grade, Chicago

When someone thinks of Indian cricket, they might imagine current players such as Virat Kohli or Mahindra Dhoni. If they thought deeply about the history of cricket, one of history's greatest players would come to mind, Kapil Dev. Kapil Dev scored over 5,000 runs and took more than 400 wickets in his cricket career. Dev is an amazing cricketer who brought fame to India when he helped India team win the World Cup.

Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj was born on January 6, 1959, in Chandigarh, East Punjab, India. Dev’s parents were Ram Lal Nikhanj and Raj Kumari. He had four sisters and two brothers; his sisters were born before they moved to India. As a young boy, Dev went to DAV School and later attended St.Edwards. Dev was very inspired to play cricket, and his parents supported and followed him on the journey to become a legend of cricket for India.

As Dev’s skills grew, he moved from team to team and his fame increased with his success. His debut season was in 1975, playing for Ranji where he showed off his skills to take wickets. In the 1977-78 season, he continued to grab incredible numbers of wickets throughout his matches. Because he did so well, Dev got selected for the Irani trophy and the Duleep trophy.

On the international scene, Dev played for India starting in 1978. Playing against Pakistan, he showed the world his trademark outswing delivery that helped him take wickets. Through the next 4 seasons, Dev proved he was a worthy opponent by scoring 100 of runs and breaking wickets with his sheer power.

In 1983, Dev was chosen to be captain of India's World Cup team, after the faithful event of him being chosen as Indians team captain Dev broke the world record with an incredible feat of getting 608 runs and 34 wickets in just 32 matches. Dev and his team played against Zimbabwe the World Cup crucial game, this was the most important match of his lifetime where he struck 16 boundaries and 6 sixes. Indian won the match by 31 runs against their counterpart and Kapil Dev was awarded man of the match. Finally, after so long India’s cricket team had made a mark in history that will stand for centuries to come.

Where is the legend now you might ponder, Dev for a living earns a hefty amount from his commentator skills from various channels and earns good money from his brand endorsements. Dev now is in the hall of fame in all of hearts as the Haryana Hurricane.

Thank you!!

Ram Kommana