Kapil Dev’s full name is Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj. He is a former Indian cricketer who was a right-arm fast bowler and a very good middle-order batsman. Kapil mastered a fine inswinging yorker during the 1980s which he used very effectively against opponents. He was a naturally aggressive player who helped India in very difficult situations. Kapil is also known as Paaji or The Haryana Hurricane.
Check out more about Nikhil Chinapa’s biography and biopic from the article.
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Kapil Dev Age
He was born on 6 January 1959 in Chandigarh, India. Kapil Dev is 61 years old. In addition, he belongs to an Indian family that follows the Hindu religion. Moreover, he has an Indian nationality.
Kapil Dev Wiki
Well, here is all in short about Kapil Dev’s bio-data and personal life. Let us have a look at the table.
| Kapil Dev Bio-data | |
| Real Name | Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj |
| Nickname | Paaji / Haryana Hurricane |
| Birthdate | 6 January 1959 |
| Age | 61 Years |
| Gender | Male |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Religion | Caste | Jat, Hinduism |
| Profession | Cricketer, Businessman |
| Hobbies | Traveling, Playing Cricket / Golf / Table Tennis, Watching Film |
| Food Habits | Non-Vegetarian |
| Political Inclination | Not Known |
| Income | N/A |
| Net Worth | Not Known |
| Physical Appearance | |
| Height | 6.0 in Feet 1.83 in Meter |
| Weight | 80 Kg 176 LBS |
| Hair Color | Salt & Pepper |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
| Zodiac Sign | Capricorn |
| Family Background, Education | |
| Father Name | Ram Lal Nikhanj |
| Mother Name | Raj Kumari Lajwanti |
| Brother Name | Ramesh (Younger) Bhushan (Elder) |
| Sister Name | Pinky Gill & 3 other (their names are not known) |
| Born Place | Chandigrah, India |
| Current City | A Sprawling House at Sunder Nagar, New Delhi, India |
| School | DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8-C, Chandigrah |
| College | N/A |
| Education Qualification | N/A |
| Wife, Daughter, Girlfriend, Affairs | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Marriage Date | 1980 |
| Wife Name | Romi Bhatia (Entrepreneur) |
| Daughter Name | Amiya Dev (Born: 16 January 1996) |
| Girlfriend | N/A |
| Social Media Accounts | |
| therealkapildev (48.6K) | |
| N/A | |
| @therealkapildev (379K) | |
| Cricket Information | |
| National Side | India (1978-1994) |
| Batting | Right Handed |
| Bowling | Right arm Fast-Medium |
| Role | All-rounder |
| Test debut | 16 October 1978 v Pakistan |
| Last Test | 19 March 1994 v New Zealand |
| ODI debut | 1 October 1978 v Pakistan |
| Last ODI | 17 October 1994 v West Indies |
| Coach/Mentor | Desh Prem Azad |
| Favourite Shot | Hook & Drive |
| Favourite Ball | Out Swing & In-swing Yorker |
| Favourite Things | |
| Favorite Batsman | Ian Botham / Don Bradman |
| Favorite Bowler | Imran Khan / Richard Hadlee |
Kapil Dev Biography
Kapil Dev was born in Chandigarh(India). He completed his schooling from DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8-C, Chandigarh and from there he had developed an interest in Cricket.
He was a very active child in his childhood and also won many medals at the junior level in school.
Then in 1971, Kapil joined Desh Prem Azad to learn basics of cricket and interestingly Kapil never played a single match of cricket until the age of 13.
During school days, the Sector 16 team needed one player is playing 11 and Kapil was roped in suddenly and that’s how his entry into cricket happened by accident.
He is also regarded as one of the greatest captains in the history of cricket and in 2002, he was named as Indian Cricketer of the Century by Wisden.
Kapil Dev was introduced into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame on 11 March 2010.
Family Background
Kapil Dev belongs to an Indian family that follows the Hindu religion. He was born into a well-settled family in Chandigarh.
His father’s name is Ram Lal Nikhanj was from Dipalpur who was a timber contractor and builder in Chandigarh while His mother’s name is Raj Kumari Lajwanti who was born in Pakpattan.
They lived in Okara district, Pakistan then. After partition, they moved to the capital city Chandigarh. Moreover, Nikhil has two brothers and four sisters.
His younger brother’s name is Ramesh and his elder brother’s name is Bhushan.
His one sister’s name is Pinky Gill and the names of three others are not known. Apart from that, there is not any information available about his family.
Kapil Dev Wife, Marriage, and Affair
Kapil Dev married Romi Bhatia. Sunil Bhatia introduced Kapil to Romi Bhatia who was an entrepreneur.
Then in 1979, Kapil had invited Romi to watch the India-West Indies test match in Delhi and at that time Kapil scored his first century with a six and became the only batsman in the history of cricket to score a century with a six.
Later in 1980, Kapil proposed to Romi in a local train in Mumbai And then Kapil married Romi in 1980. On 16 January 1996, a beautiful daughter was born in their house whose name is Amiya Dev.
Height in Feet & Body Stats
Kapil Dev’s height is 6 feet or 1.83 in a meter and his weight is around 80 kg. In addition, Kapil’s Body measurement is about Chest-41, Waist-32 & Biceps-14 inches approximately.
He has no tattoo on his body. Moreover, he has dark brown eyes and Salt & Pepper colored hairs. His zodiac sign is Capricorn.
Cricket Career of Kapil Dev
Well, let us have a look at his cricketing career and achievements.
International Career
In November 1975, Kapil made his first-class debut by playing for Haryana against Punjab. In that match, he got 6 wickets for just 39 runs.
He played for the Haryana team for a long time from 1975 to 1992 (17 years). In 1978, he made his international Test debut against Pakistan in Faisalabad on 16 October.
Kapil Dev was just 21 years old when he became the youngest player ever to have completed 100 wickets and 1000 runs in Test cricket.
Moreover, He played 184 innings of cricket and during that long time, he never runs out.
After world cup, Dev was reappointed as a captain in March 1985 and won test series against England in 1986.
He was then retained as captain for the 1987 Cricket World Cup in which he led the team to the semi-final. And in the semi-final, they lost to England.
Then, he did not captain India again, although he was the VIce-captain for India’s tour in 1989.
Domestic Career
- From 1975 to 1992, Kapil played for team Haryana.
- He played for team Northhamptonshire from 1981 to 1983.
- From 1984 to 1985, Kapil played for team Worcestershire.
Kapil Dev’s Role in the World Cup 1983
Kapil Dev scored 303 runs in the 1983 World Cup. And also took 12 wickets & 7 catches in it. When India was in a tough spot in the 1983 World Cup, he scored magnificent 175 runs against Zimbabwe and saved India in the quarter-final.
Then in the final match, Kapil took a catch of Sir Viv Richards and that was a turning point of the game.
Under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, India won against West Indies and lift up the 1983 World Cup. After World Cup in 1983, West Indies toured India for Test series and ODI. And, in the revenge mode, they thrashed India 3-0 in six Test series and then also won all five ODI matches.
Post-Retirement
In 1999, Kapil Dev was appointed as Indian National Cricket team coach and during his term, India won just one test match.
Hense, Manoj Prabhakar raised a match-fixing charge on him-that was dismissed by later. But, Dev resigned from his position.
In October 2006, he was nominated as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy for a two-year span. In 2007, Dev joined Indian Cricket Leauge(ICL) as the chairman of the executive board. Then on 25 July 2012, he resigned from ICL and continued to support BCCI.
Bollywood Appearance
Kapil dev made a cameo appearance in some Bollywood movies such as; ‘Dillagi…Yeh Dillagi’, ‘Iqbal’, ‘Chain Khuli Ki Main Khuli’ & ‘Mujse Shaadi Karogi’.
In 2020, a biopic film on his life named ’83’ released. In which, Ranveer Singh played the lead role as Kapil Dev and Deepika Padukone played a role of Kapil Dev’s wife Romi Dev. This film was directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Anurag Kashyap.
Commercial
Kapil Dev became a popular choice in television commercials and in the eighties he did Palmolive Shaving Cream’s ad that became so popular at that time.
Awards & Achievements
Kapil Dev won many awards for his magnificent career which are:
- Arjun Award (1979-80)
- Padma Shri (1982)
- Wisden Cricketer of the Year (1983)
- Padma Bhushan (1991)
- Wisden Cricketer of the Century (2002)
- ICC Cricket Hall of Fame (2010)
- The 25 Greatest Global Living Legends In India by NDTV (2013)
- CK Naidu Lifetime Achievement Award (2013)
- On 24 September 2008, Kapil Dev joined Indian Territorial Army and was honored with Lieutenant Colonel by Deepak Kapoor, Chief of the Army Staff.
FAQs
Kapil Dev is 61 years old.
Romi Dev
He was born and raised in Chandigarh city, India.
He has one daughter named Amiya Dev.
Some interesting facts about Kapil Dev
- Does Kapil Dev smoke? No
- Does Kapil Dev drink alcohol? Yes
- Desh Prem Azad was Kapil Dev’s mentor.
- Kapil has recorded that he never missed a single test because of injury or fitness reasons throughout his career.
- His first wicket was a Pakistani cricketer Sadiq Mohammad.
- He is the first player to take 200 ODI wickets and only player in the history who have taken more 434 wickets & scored more than 5000 runs in Tests.
- Kapil Dev likes to play Football, and in the eighties, he played one match of Football with Shah Rukh Khan.
- He was the only Asian founding member of the Laureus Foundation and after his retirement in 1994, he took up Golf.
- After retirement, Kapil Dev jumped into the business and opened two restaurants named ‘Kaptain’s Retreat’ in Patna and Chandigarh.
- Kapil Dev was appointed as a coach of the Indian National Cricket Team and guided the team from October 1999 to August 2000.
- Dev Musco Lighting Pvt. Ltd. is a sports lighting company incorporated in 1995 by Kapil Dev and it specializes in designing and manufacturing athletic field lighting.
- He was voted as India’s Cricketer of the Century in 2002.
- He is a good friend of Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan.
- In fact, he was invited to the swearing ceremony of Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2018 but later he declined the invitation.
- He has written three autobiographies which are ; ‘By God’s Decree(1985)’, ‘Cricket My Style(1987)’ & ‘Straight from The Heart(2004)’.
- Kapil dev unveiled his wax statue at New Delhi’s Madame Tussauds Museum in May 2017.
- In 2019, He was appointed as the first chancellor of Haryana Sports University.
- Kapil Dev is quite famous on social media and he likes to keep in touch with his followers on social accounts like Instagram(614K), Twitter(2M)& Facebook(504K).
So, that’s all about Indian former cricketer Kapil Dev’s biography and journey. Let us know your favorite cricketer’s name in the comment box.