All time cricket legends, Imran Khan vs. Kapil Dev – Wasim Akram vs. Kapil Dev
by MairaS on August 19, 2009
in Best of the Best, India, Pakistan
Imran Khan vs. Kapil Dev
A few years ago an Indian news channel CNN-IBN had a wonderful program featuring sub-continent’s two great all-rounders, Imran Khan and Kapil Dev. The channel discussed about the tough life of an all-rounder, the competition that took between the two great all-rounders in their time and the edge with how they led there teams.
Now as far as Imran Khan is concerned he was one of the most handsome personalities to ever grace the sport of Cricket who looked more like a Hollywood Star. His presence on the field exuded the feeling of seeing an emperor commanding his knights.
Above all he overshadowed Ian Botham with the bat and the ball, and he always found it easy to penetrate brilliantly through his impregnable defense, in terms of his bowling, his unrelenting hostility and aggression and his in-swing was unplayable. Imran would tear through the best of batting like a tiger tearing flesh. He was a master of the in-swinger and the bouncer.
He was amongst the greatest captains ever leading his team like a Marshall in an Army. He was a master tactician as a skipper. He led Pakistan to becoming the joint unofficial test champions and the one day Champions
As for Kapil Dev, he is considered as the greatest all-rounder in Indian cricket. Widely seen as the people’s champion, he became the living symbol of the hopes and aspirations of millions of his countrymen during the course of his 16-year Test career. Not only was he a world-class all-rounder, but, as his country’s captain, he always led by example. Kapil, who became perhaps India’s first world-class medium-pacer with his stock out swinger, often had to carry the Indian attack on his own. His best performance in Tests was a magnificent 9-83 against the West Indies in Ahmadabad in 1983-84.
Whether with bat or ball or in his role as captain, Kapil played a crucial role in most of India’s Test wins in the late 1970s and 1980s and y the time he retired from the Test arena in 1994, Kapil had made 5,248 runs at an average of 31.05 and had created a world record, at that time, of 434 Test wickets at 29.64.
Kapil Dev and Wasim Akram best performance as all-rounders
Kapil Dev, the Indian all-rounder, was the highest ranking test cricketer from 1992 and 1994. He also achieved a very impressive rating of 433. Dev was a very inspirational captain and it was during his captaincy that, in 1983, India won the cricket World Cup. For this feat and for his heroics on the cricket field, Kapil Dev will be remembered for all time by all Indian cricket supporters. Although Dev was a very good test play,he specialized in one day international cricket and has the highest strike rate in World Cup cricket.
The Pakistani, Wasim Akram, is known predominantly as a bowler and it is in this discipline that he holds many records. This left handed bowler bowled surprising fast for a bowler with a very short run up. He is known as the master swinger and is able to swing a cricket ball at remarkable pace. With this deadly combination, Akram became the first bowler to take 500 wickets in one day internationals. Akram could also be devastating with the bat and has achieved a double hundred and other centuries in test cricket. He was also a very reliable captain and was given his first chance in cricket by Javed Miandad in 1985.
With their outstanding records and unforgotten performances they both won the World Cup as captains for their respective countries and this is one of the greatest reasons to be remembered till this day.
DEAR SIRS,I WOULD LIKE TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT OUR TWO ASIN LEGENDS KAPIL DEV AND IMRAN KHAN BECAUSE TO BOTH I LIKE FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART AND BOTH OF THEM HAVE GIVEN WORLD-CUP TO THEIR OWN COUNTRIES.IF IMRAN WAS A LION, KAPIL DEV WAS A PANTHER ON THE FIELD.IMRAN WAS A FAR SENIOR CRICKETER THAN KAPIL DEV.I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE HIM MY SKIPPER FOR WORLD TEST XI FOR VARIOUS REASONS.IF I AM NOT WRONG,HE PLAYED LESS THAN 100 TEST MATCHES(HOPEFULLY 88) AND TOOK NEARLY 383
TEST WKTS AND HE BECAME A REASON FOR INDIAN DOWN FALL IN 1982-83 AND CAPTAINCY WAS TAKEN BACK FROM SUNNY AND THEN HE TOOK PAKISTAN QUITE HANDSOMELY IN THE SEMI FINAL OF 1987 RELIANCE CUP.UNFORTUNATELY THEY HAD A BAD DAY AT LAHORE IN THE SEMI FINAL AND THEY LOST TO AUSSIES BY 18 RUNS.HE PLAYED CRICKET WITH PASSION,AGGRESSION AND SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH BRAIN.I STILL REMEMBER THAT IN 1986-87 HE CALLED IQBAL QASIM FROM PAKISTAN IN LAST TEST MATCH AND HE TOOK FIVE WKTS HAUL ALONGWITH TAUSHIF AHMAD AND SUNNY PLAYED HIS ONE OF RARE INNING OF 96 BUT INDIA LOST THAT MATCH BY 16 RUNS DESPITE TAKING LEAD IN FIRST INNING.I THINK THIS WAS THE LAST TEST MATCH WHERE KAPIL DEV WAS THE CAPTAIN AND EVEN IN 1992 WORLD CUP HE SCORED A RESPONSIBLE 50 AT MCG UNLIKE HIS RIVALS AND MADE PAKISTAN WORLD-CHAMPIONS.HE DECLARED HIS RETIREMENT ALONGWITH SUNNY AFTER 1987 WORLD-CUP BUT HE WAS REQUESTED BY GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ TO PLAY SOME MORE FOR PAKISTAN.REST ALL IS A HISTORY.SINCE THEN HE DECLARED HIS RETIREMENT,PAKISTAN BECAME MOST UNDISCIPLINED SIDE OF THE WORLD AND PAKISTAN STATURE HAS DECLINED.I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE MY HEARTIEST GOOD WISHES TO HIS PARTY ‘TEHRIK-E-INSAAF’ ALONGWITH UPLIFTMENT TO HIS CANCER HOS-
PITAL MADE IN THE MEMORY OF HIS MOTHER.
AS FAR AS KAPIL DEV IS CONCERNED.BEING BELONGING TO HIS HOME STATE,I’LL SAY, HE IS TRUELY HARYANA HURRICANE.HE STARTED HIS CAREER IN 1978 AT FAISALABAAD.HIS PINNACLE OF GOLRY CAME WHEN INDIA WON 1983’S WORLD-CUP AND GIFTED IT TO THEN PRIME MINISTER SMT.INDIRA GANDHI.HE IS FINEST SWING BOWLER OF THE WORLD.HE WAS MAESTRO OF OUTSWING,YORKERS AND OFF-CUTTERS.HE DID NOT PLAY HIS CRICKET FOR RECORDS BUT FOR HANDSOME VICTORIES AND HE TOOK HASHAN TILAKRATNE OUT CAUGHT BY SANJAY MANJREKAR AT AHEMADABAD AS HIS 432 TEST WKTS SURPASSING SIR RICHARD HADLEE’S RECORD OF 431.NO BODAY CAN FORGET HIS INNINGS OF 175 NOT OUT AT TUNBRIDGE WELLS AGAINST ZIMBABWE WHICH HELPED INDIA TO REACH THE SEMI FINAL AND FOUR CONSECUTIVE SIXERS AT EDDIE HEMMINGS TO SAVE FOLLOW ON WAS A HIGHLIGHT OF HIS CRICKETING CAREER AND HE SCORED EVEN A CENTURY AT THE TURNING TRACK OF CHEPAK WHERE NARENDRA HIRWANI TOOK 16 WKTS AGAINST WINDIES WHERE SIR VIV RICHARDS GOT BOWLED OUT BY HIRWANI AT HIS CLASSY GOOGLIES IN BOTH THE INNINGS.HE WAS FAST WKT TAKING BOWLER IN EARLY STAGE OF HIS CAREER BUT STRUGGLED IN LAST FEW MATCHES WHEN HE WAS NEARER TO WORLD-RECORD.HIS BEST IS ALSO AT AHEMADABAD 9/83 AGAINST WEST INDIES.HE HAD OPENED FOR INDIA IN 92 WORLD-CUP BUT DID NOT CLICK.INDIANS HAVE ALWAYS GIVEN HIM ENORMOUS LOVE TO THE CRICKETER AND HE MADE HARYANA TEAM RANJI CHAMPION BY DEFEATING MUMBAI.HE WAS HARDLY COMING OUT WITH A NO BALL.HIS FAMOUS VICTIM WAS SIR ALLAN BOARDER.HE WAS TAKING HIM AT BACKFOOT AND BOWLED NUMEROUS TIMES.HE ENJOYED HIS BOWLING IN ENGLISH CONDITIONS.HE WAS BEING GIVEN THE RANK OF LT COL BY CONTEMPORARY ARMY.HE IS TRUE SON OF HARYANA AS WELL AS OF INDIA.
MAY GOD BLESS HIM WITH A LOT OF LOVE,PEACE AND HARMONY IN REST OF HIS LIFE.BOTH ARE TRUELY ASIAN LEGENDS.THAT’S ALL.THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL.
Thanks alot for awesome input Nerender
KAPIL TO IMRAN KHAN K PAOON K BRABER BHI NAHI HAY
Kapil was true hero not Imran.Imran to Kapil ke paoon ki dhool bhi nahi hai
statistically imran is far better than kapil. imran is mentally tougher than kapil.imran understand cricket more than kapil. imran would have passed 500 wkts in test if he had not injured in 1982-84 when he was at the peak of his bowling.Geoff.boycott and ian chappell have ranked imran the best all rounder out of ian bottam, richard hadll and kapil dev. I love imran the most..
statistically imran is far better than kapil. imran is mentally tougher than kapil.imran understand cricket more than kapil. imran would have passed 500 wkts in test if he had not injured in 1982-84 when he was at the peak of his bowling. Geoff.boycott and ian chappell have ranked imran the best all rounder out of ian bottam, richard hadll and kapil dev. I love imran the most..
Imran khan is better than every one koi bhi us k braber nhi hai
I’m a Bangladeshi.Should i vote for Saki b-Al-Hassan of our country?Of course not.Bcoz i’m a impartial cricket fan.If you think impartially ,definitely Imran Khan is the best.Imran’s test batting avg. 37.69 and in ODI 33.41, test bowling 22.81, he got 10 wkt 6 times and 5 wkt 23 times.Kapil Dev’s test and ODI batting avg. is 31.05 and 23.71 which are less than Imran Khan.Kapil played 43 test more than Imran but he got 10 wkt 2 times and 5 wkt 23 times, bowl avg. 29.64, which are also less then Imran.Kapil played 50 ODI more than Imran but got only 14 half centuries whether Imran hited 19 half centuries.Not only this, Imran is the only allrounder who made 100 runs and 10 wkt in a test match,Ian Botham also did it but kapil, Hadlee could not do this.Imran got avg. 4.11 wkt per test match whether Kapil got 3.31 , which is also less than Imran.In addition to this, he was one of the best bowler and best captain.So, who had done better?Record says for Imran Khan.So, Imran is the best allrounder of alltime.And this is not only my judgement, Geof Boycott,Ian Chappel,Richi Benaud, Mark Taylor,etc. marked Imran as the best allrounder.I’ve read from newspaper some days ago, in a Cricinfo survey, most of the neutrol supporters have voted for Imran Khan.In my Bangladesh, two international cricketers are very famous, they are Sachin Tendulkar and Imran Khan at 80’s that proves the greatness of Imran khan as the best allrounder.But, Imran and Kapil both are very good allrounder, both of them had done a lot for their country.But,analyzing the records,former cricketers judgement,i would like to say that Imran khan is the best.My all time best all rounders are 1.Imran Khan 2.Ian Botham 3.Kapil Dev 4.Gary Soberse 5.Jack kallis 6.Sanath Joysuria 7.Richard Hadlee 8.Kith Miller 9.Andrew Flintoff 10.Chris cairns.
I am a Bangladeshi. I read the comment of Amil.I agree with him.
Imran Khan is the best allrounder.
My list is
1. Imran Khan
2.Kapil Dev
3.Ian Botham
I am of Bangladesh origin. I can’t quite agree that Imran is the best allrounder of all times. Gary Sobers would be the best followed by Imran.
regards
Dr Haider Mannan
imran khan is better than kapil.but both were very good players.
Dear Haider Mannan,it is very nice to hear that you are also from Bangladesh.Yes, Gary soberse is a very good allrounder but you have to remember that Gary is a batting and Imran is a bowling allrounder.Besides bpwling, Imran batted as a goog middle order batsman.Sometimes, he contributed his team by only batting although he is a fast bowler.As for example, at world cup 1983,he could not bowl a single over for injury,but ht batted very well.He made 283 runs including a century and two halfcentury and avg. was 70.75. In 1990, against Austrelia, he made the highest runs (311) for pakistan and at the last 10 years, his batting avg. was above 45.00 .He became the man of the tournament at nehru cup in 1989 for his allrounding performence.He is the only allrounder(Along with Ian Botham) who made 100 runs and 10 wkt in a test match that represents him the alltime best allrounder certified by ESPN-Cricinfo.Formar star cricketer Ian Chappel,Richi Benaud,Geof Boycott,Allan Boarder,Richard Hadlee, also certified Imran as the alltime best allrounder.So, there is no question about this.
i believe both were equally talented and genious.kapil one of my all time favourite player and surely indias greatest all time cricketr was not as strong captain as imran but he played most of his cricket in indian bus stand cricket grounds while imran if have not missed the two peak yrs of cricket who knows where he would have left cricket .was handsom genious captain and defunitly one of very few grt fast bowlers ever played .
It’s Dr Haider Mannan again. Someone commented
That Imran Khan has been rated as the best
All rounder of all times by Richie Benaud,
Ian Chappell etc. This is totally wrong.
They have rated Sobers as the all time
Great all rounder and Imran as the best
All rounder of the modern era which includes
Imran,Botham, Kapil and Hadlee and very
Recently Kallis.
It is difficult to compare two giants. I ran did rely on unfair treatment to the ball and relied on his country’s umpires. His bat didn’t create much history like Kapil’s did. Kapil had little support at the other end and as sportsman he didn’t break down as I ran did. Imran’s averages are misleading as, when he was a bowler, his batting was of less consequence and when he became a batsman of importance, his bowling had faded away!