It had to be. And it was. India's World Cup winning captain Kapil Devwas declared the 'Indian Cricketer of the Century'.
The 'Haryana Hurricane' was selected ahead of 15 other illustrious cricketers -including Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar - for the most coveted award at a glitteringceremony organised by Wisden to celebrate the glorious moments of Indian cricket.
Kapil Dev, who took 434 wickets from 131 Tests and also scored 5248 runs, led India toits most memorable victory when the team upset the mighty West Indies in the final to liftthe 1983 World Cup.
Of the 16 cricketers nominated for the award, the list narrowed down to Kapil Dev,Gavaskar and Tendulkar. Though Tendulkar was the popular choice based on a poll conductedby Wisden, Kapil Dev was selected by an expert panel consisting of former players andjournalists.
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Sunil Gavaskar's 1985 team which won the Benson and Hedges World Series in Australiawas adjudged the best Indian team of the century.
The award was presented to Kapil Dev by former West Indian batting great Viv Richardswho said it was a closely fought race between the three finalists.
Among other honours, V V S Laxman's epic 281 against Australia in Kolkata last year wasdeclared as the best Indian batting performance of the century while Bhagwat SubramaniumChandrasekhar, who took 242 Test wickets at an average of 29.74, was adjudged the bestbowler.
A Special Achievement award was given to Mushtaq Ali while Gundappa Viswanath won theSpirit of the Game Award for calling back Bob Taylor in the 1977 Bombay Test after thebatsman had been given out by the umpire.
Richards was all praise for Kapil Dev while presenting him the award. The explosive WestIndian batsman said he was "shaking in his boots to give the award to KapilDev".
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Richards said Kapil Dev was one of the greatest all- rounders ever and the award was afitting reply to those who had tried to sully his name in the match-fixing controversy.
"When the match-fixing broke out and Kapil's name was dragged into it, I said hecould never be involved in such things. Whenever he went out on the field, he wore hisheart and passion on his sleeves.
"If he still did it (indulged in match-fixing activities) he must have been agreat actor," Richards said.
Kapil Dev himself was extremely humble in his moment of glory and attributed all hissuccess to the guidance from the senior players.
He also had a word of encouragement for Tendulkar. "This little young master wouldone day cross us all over," he said pointing to the master batsman, who alongwithGavaskar, shared the stage with Kapil Dev for the final announcement.
The 16 cricketers nominated for the top award were - Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble,Mohd Azharuddin, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengasarkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Bishen Singh Bedi, B SChandrasekhar, Vijay Hazare, Vijay Merchant, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Gundappa Viswanath,Vinoo Mankad, Lala Amarnath, D B Deodhar and C K Nayadu.
