DUBAI: Legendary all-rounder Kapil
Dev, who led India to their only ODI World Cup triumph in 1983, was on Tuesday
inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame.

A
commemorative cap was presented to Kapil by ICC President David Morgan, in front
of fellow Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd, as well as an audience of ICC officials and
other invited guests at the governing body’s headquarters here.

The
Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International
Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), recognises some of the legends of the
game.

“I am proud and happy to have been inducted into the ICC
Cricket Hall of Fame and it’s amazing to think that I have been picked as one of
the greats of Indian cricket,” Kapil said.

“I am delighted to have
been named alongside so many great players of the game but for me, when I was
growing up, the man I always looked up to was Sunil Gavaskar from the moment I
started playing cricket. Now to be named also alongside greats of the game such
as Clive Lloyd, Richard Hadlee and Wasim Akram it truly fantastic,” he
said.

Born on January 6, 1959 in Chandigarh, Kapil played in 131 Test
matches and 225 ODIs in an international career that spanned 16
years.

He made his ODI debut in 1978 against Pakistan in Quetta while
his Test debut came two weeks later in Faisalabad against the same
opposition.

Kapil is considered one of the greatest pace bowlers
India has produced besides being the country’s finest bowling all-rounder. He
took a remarkable 434 Test wickets and 253 ODI wickets.

In 1994, he
became the leading wicket-taker in Tests when he overtook Richard Hadlee, a
record that was eventually broken by West Indies pacer Courtney
Walsh.

In 1988 he leapfrogged another West Indies fast bowler, Joel
Garner, to become the most successful bowler in ODIs, a record he held until
1994 when his tally of 253 wickets was passed by Wasim Akram.

Kapil’s
best bowling figures in a Test match were 11-146 against Pakistan in Chennai in
1980 while in ODIs his best match figures came in the group stage of the 1983
ICC Cricket World Cup when he took 5-43 against Australia.

With the
bat Kapil made 5,248 Test runs, including eight centuries and 27 fifties, at an
average of 31.05. He also scored 3,783 ODI runs.

ICC President David
Morgan, who presented Kapil with his hand-crafted Hall of Fame cap, praised the
latest inductee.

“Kapil was an all-time great player. He did
everything. He batted, bowled and he was a fine fielder. I remember the great
catch he took to dismiss Viv Richards in the 1983 World Cup final – he was on
the run and the ball came over his shoulder, possibly the most difficult of
catches,” Morgan said.