I would have been happier if Viru had scored 176: Kapil Dev

Updated on: 20 February,2011 09:06 AM IST |
Agni Pandey |

India's World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev yesterday said he was happy to watch Virender Sehwag equal his highest individual score of 175, but would have been happier if the 'Nawab of Najargarh' had surpassed him

"Without doubt Viru (Sehwag) played a tremendous innings. I watched his knock, it was a superbly controlled innings. If he had scored 176 today, I would have been really, really happy," Kapil Dev told MiD DAY from Delhi.
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"Viru had the opportunity (to go past the milestone), but he couldn't. In the latter part of his innings he was a bit tired, perhaps because of humidity," he said.

Kapil's unbeaten ton against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells turned out to be a crucial innings in India's successful campaign in 1983.

The only other batsman to have surpassed Kapil's historic score is former captain Sourav Ganguly, who made 183 against Sri Lanka at Taunton in 1999.

Kapil refused to compare the two knocks by his compatriots. "I never compare. Sourav and Viru played in two very different conditions. Both were great innings," he said.

Interestingly, only a week ago in Kolkata, the original Master Blaster Viv Richards had said: "This is going to be Sehwag's World Cup. I will be watching him." Sehwag seems to be living up to the legend's expectation from the word go.

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