Why did Kapil Dev perform so poorly in England?

[as-95]

So it is now the year of 2019. We have many new posters amongst us and I would like to pose 2 different questions...

1)Why did Kapil Dev perform so pathetically in England(bowling average of 39). Also (average of 42 in New Zeland, 37 in South Africa)

2) In light of Kapil's poor performances in bowling friendly conditions, (would you consider Kapil Dev as an ATG inferior to Imran, Sobers, Botham etc or would you simply classify him as a good all rounder alongside Flintoff, Mushtaq Mohammad, Shane Watson et al

 

[jnaveen1980]

Thanks for the insight! Having followed up on your stats, I can confirm that you are correct! Averaging 42 and 37 in NZ and South Africa respectively is very poor. These are also countries that are supportive to fast bowlers so I remain baffled why he failed so emphatically!

Being thrashed around in Pakistan is not a great surprise as the pitches don't really lend themselves towards fast bowlers so an average of 40 isn't as pathetic as it sounds... However, Kapil's record at home in India is very good and the conditions aren't too different to Pakistan. Could it be that he simply had a mental block when playing against Pakistan?

When he played in SA he was at the tail end of his career. Besides his averages are bad because he was only one bowler who would have to slog , bowl more than required. He reduced his speed because of that.There are unknown factors involved. His average would have been far better had he had more support.

 

[jnaveen1980]

So it is now the year of 2019. We have many new posters amongst us and I would like to pose 2 different questions...

1)Why did Kapil Dev perform so pathetically in England(bowling average of 39). Also (average of 42 in New Zeland, 37 in South Africa)

2) In light of Kapil's poor performances in bowling friendly conditions, (would you consider Kapil Dev as an ATG inferior to Imran, Sobers, Botham etc or would you simply classify him as a good all rounder alongside Flintoff, Mushtaq Mohammad, Shane Watson et al

For cricinfo stats guys he may not be. Those who followed him live would know he was as good as anybody.

 

[as-95]

When he played in SA he was at the tail end of his career. Besides his averages are bad because he was only one bowler who would have to slog , bowl more than required. He reduced his speed because of that.There are unknown factors involved. His average would have been far better had he had more support.

But these are all 'if's' and 'buts'... When looking at the facts, he has performed extremely poorly in friendly bowling conditions. Can you really pin it all down to lack of support?

 

[as-95]

Would you classify him as a superior all rounder to Flintoff/Shakib?

 

[jnaveen1980]

But these are all 'if's' and 'buts'... When looking at the facts, he has performed extremely poorly in friendly bowling conditions. Can you really pin it all down to lack of support?

Averages inflate when you more and more overs. there was a joke going around on magazine in the 80s after his 9 for 83 against the mighty west indies teams that whether he could be allowed to bowl from both ends. The plan was to see him and score from other ends.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Kapil averaged like 24 against the might windies during their peak period. All the other teams were average teams in that era. Kapil's partner Gavri was gentle medium pacer who would bowl spin after the ball got a little older.We had array of dibbly dobbly medium pacers supporting him.

 

[as-95]

Happy Birthday to Kapil Dev and Happy new year to my fellow posters...

It is now a new year... Has anyone changed their views or can we still unanimously agree that Kapil Dev was a few tiers below true ATG all rounders like Imran, Sobers, Kallis, Botham?

Why did Kapil Dev perform so poorly in England(bowling average of 39). Also (average of 42 in New Zeland, 37 in South Africa). Does this prove he is simply an Indian Great as opposed to an ATG?