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Published 15:19 IST, March 27th 2020

Kapil Dev claims Sunil Gavaskar would have succeeded in T20 cricket as well

A movie depicting Kapil Dev's life will soon be releasing in the theatres. The Indian all-rounder is a legend of the game and enjoys a wide fanbase. Read more.

Reported by: Mrigank Pandey
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Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev will always be remembered for leading India to its first-ever Cricket World Cup all the way back in 1983. In his 225 ODIs for India, Dev scored 3783 runs and took 253 wickets. Much like the movie which came out on MS Dhoni, a Kapil Dev movie by the name of "83" was going to be released soon but its release got pushed back because of the rising coronavirus fears.

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Kapil Dev talks about batsmen who had the T20 game in his era

According to a leading Indian sports portal, Kapil Dev cited multiple players from his generation of Team India and predicted that they would succeed in the shorter format of the game. T20 cricket rose to relevance in 2007 when the first World Cup was held for the format and later on, the IPL sealed the deal for the shorter format, helping the sport reach new audiences. Former Indian captain Kapil Dev referred to players like Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth and said that these players would have been big in T20 cricket had the format arrived to the game at their time.

Srikkanth's aggression against Pakistani bowlers was something that used to amaze the Indian team, Dev revealed. Yashpal Sharma and Navjot Singh Sidhu were also deemed fit by Dev for the explosive game that the modern format needs. He also pointed out how Gundappa Viswanath would have batted in T20 with ease. In the bowlers who would succeed for Team India, Kapil Dev named former captain Bishan Singh Bedi, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Erapalli Prasanna. 

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Kapil Dev movie

A movie based on the life of Kapil Dev will soon be releasing in Indian theatres. The Kapil Dev movie is called "83" and will star actor Ranveer Singh as the Indian legend. The movie's release has currently been pushed back by the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country.

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Kapil Dev records

Here are the Kapil Dev records across formats:

  • 3783 runs in 225 ODI matches with a high score of 175*, 253 wickets at an economy of 3.71
  • 5248 runs in 184 Test innings with a high score of 163, 434 wickets at an economy of 2.78

ALSO READ | Kapil Dev urges Indians to see positives of India lockdown before winning COVID-19 fight

Updated 15:19 IST, March 27th 2020

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