EARLY & PERSONAL LIFE:
Kapil Dev (birth name: Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj) was born to Ram Lal Nikhanj and Raj Kumari Lajwanti (a Punjabi family) as one among the seven siblings on 6 January 1959 in Chandigarh, Punjab.  His parents migrated from Kahuta village near Rawalpindi during Indo-Pak partition and settled in Chandigarh.  He father had a prosperous building and timber business.  His primary education was at D.A.V School.  In 1979, he was introduced by a common friend to Romi Bhatia and the couple got married in 1980 and is blessed with a daughter Amiya Dev.

CAREER & HIGHLIGHTS:
In 1975, Kapil Dev has made his domestic debut against Punjab, looked very impressive and he took six wickets which helped his Haryana team to victory.  In 1976-77, he gave his best performance of his starting days in the domestic career.  In a match against Bengal, he took 7/20 in just 9 overs.  Later his team lost to Mumbai (by the then Bombay) in the quarter finals but his performance brought the nation and the selection team noticed him and kept an eye on him.

On 1 October 1978, Kapil Dev has made his international ODI debut against Pakistan in Pakistan.  His first test debut was also with Pakistan on the 16 October the same year at Faisalabad.  During this series, in the third test match at Karachi, he scored the fastest half-century by an Indian off just 33 balls.  In a series against West Indies team, Kapil scored his first test century of 126 runs at Delhi.

In 1982-83 season, Kapil Dev was made the Indian Cricket Team captain against Sri Lanka and he has become a regular captain for the team with the tour of West Indies.  His performance and leadership in the 1983 World Cup Cricket won him many accolades.  During this 1983 World Cup, Kapil Dev in a crucial match against Zimbabwe scored a massive 175 runs in just 138 balls and led his team to the next level.  Wisden Magazine has regarded this performance as the World’s top 10 performances of all time.  Later his performances and his extra-ordinary leadership qualities on the field in the World Cup have won the one and only biggest trophies for India.  He played his last test match against New Zealand on 19 March 1994.  His last ODI was with West Indies which he played on 17 October 1994.  From October 1999 – August 2000, he was also the India’s international team coach for about ten months.  After retiring totally from all forms of cricket he took up golf and was the only Asian founding member of Laureus Foundation.  In 2009, Kapil was also inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame from India as one among the three (Bishan Singh Bedi & Sunil Gavaskar are the other two members). 

Apart from cricket, Kapil Dev has signed and worked the commercial endorsements with Palmolive, BSA-SLR bicycles, Hero Honda bikes, Hajmola, Crocin, Boost, Birla Sun-Life Insurance, Kinetic, Standard Chartered and Idea Cellular etc are few popular ones to name.  He also wrote three of his autobiographic books.  In 1985 – By God’s Decree, In 1987 – Cricket My Style and finally In 2004 – Straight from the Heart.

NOTABLE AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS:
•  1979 - 80 – Arjuna Award by the Government of India
•  1982 – was awarded “Padma Shri” by the Government of India
•  1983 – Wisden Cricketer of the Year
•  1991 – was awarded “Padma Bhushan” by the Government of India
•  2002 – Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century
•  2008 – Lieutenant Colonel by the Indian Territorial Army
•  2010 – ICC Cricket Hall of Fame