Powerfully built and standing at more than 6ft, Kapil Dev did what few Indian seamers have ever been able to do - bowl fast and take wickets by the hatful.

By the end of his career he had surpassed all bowlers by taking 434 wickets at 29.06, bettering Richard Hadlee in his last series in 1993/94.

Just for good measure, he threw in a batting average of over 30.

From the unpromising beginnings of claiming seven Pakistani wickets in his first three Tests in 1978, Kapil was soon into his stride, taking 22 wickets against the 1979 Australians, and then 32 against Pakistan - all on supposedly unhelpful home pitches.

Aged 21 years and 27 days, he became the youngest player to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, a feat he repeated at 2,000 and 200.

In 1990, he was batting when India required 24 runs to save the follow-on against England at Lord's with Narindra Hirwani (a bunny) at the other end, and four balls of an Eddie Hemmings over remaining.

The solution? Four balls, four sixes. Problem solved.

As captain, Kapil led India to triumph in the 1983 World Cup final against the West Indies and, in 1986, to their first Test win at Lord's.