World Cup winning Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev underwent an angioplasty on Friday morning at Fortis hospital in Okhla, Delhi after he suffered a heart attack. With the news coming to light, many on social media wished the legendary cricketer speedy recovery. The surgery went well and the 61-year-old is in a stable condition.
Former cricketer Madan Lal said in a a tweet that Kapil Dev was taken to the hospital in time. He further said that Kapil Dev complained of uneasiness and the procedure has been successful according to the doctors and he will be home soon.
Wishing the big-hearted, mighty Kapil Dev a speedy recovery. So much more to do.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 23, 2020
Concerned to learn that the legendary #KapilDev has suffered a heart attack & is in hospital. His mighty heart won many a battle for India. Wishing him the very best in winning this one too.
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 23, 2020
My prayers are with you hope you get well soon #Kapildev paji
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 23, 2020
Please join me in sending prayers, strength and good wishes to Kapil and Romi Dev for his speedy recovery. Kapil was taken to the hospital in time as he complained of uneasiness. As per the doctors the procedure has been successful and he will be home soon. @vikrantgupta73
— Madan Lal (@MadanLal1983) October 23, 2020
A statement from Fortis said that the cricketer had been rushed to hospital at 1 am on Friday after he complained of chest pain and that he is currently in the ICU but his condition is stable.
"Former Indian Cricket captain Mr. Kapil Dev, age 62 years, came to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (Okhla Road) emergency department at 1:00 am on 23rd October with a complaint of chest pain. He was evaluated and an emergency coronary Angioplasty was performed by Dr. Atul Mathur, Director of Cardiology Department, in the middle of night. Currently, he is admitted in ICU and under close supervision of Dr. Atul Mathur and his team. Mr. Kapil Dev is stable now and he is expected to get discharged in couple of days," a statement from the hospital said.
Dev, 61, was a prolific batting all-rounder making equal contribution with the bat and ball at the peak of his career. In tests, he had an average score of 31+ per innings for the 5248 runs he made in his international career. In the ODI format, he had made 3783 runs. Overall, he had amassed 9,000 runs in international cricket. He played a total of 131 test matches and 225 ODIs.
In tests, he has picked up 434 wickets and 253 wickets in the shorter format of the game. He was the first to go past the figure of 400 wickets in tests.
To his credit, he had made the fastest test half-century by an Indian at the time off just 33 balls in just his third match and that too against arch-rivals Pakistan.
However, the most memorable knock of his career came in the 1983 World Cup when he scored a match-winning 175 not out off 138 balls against Zimbabwe. This was a much-needed knock as India had been reduced to 17 for the loss of 5 wickets at one stage.
Following his retirement from the game, he had played the role of the Indian coach for a brief period but did not enjoy much success. Among his other achievements, he was named as the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century, ahead of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. Notably, he was removed from the National Cricket Academy in 2004 as he joined the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2007.
He currently works as a cricket commentator and as a philanthropist.