Watch: In the last of his 131 Test matches, Kapil Dev hit his last six, off Shane Thomson, and took his last wicket, of Adam Parore.

Over a career spanning 15 and a half years, Kapil had missed a lone Test match – against England in Calcutta in 1984/85. On that occasion, too, he was dropped from the XI.

However, by 1994, age had caught up with even him. A year after going past Richard Hadlee’s world record of 431 Test wickets, Kapil played for one final time – in a one-off Test match in Hamilton, in Hadlee’s nation.

It was a significant moment in the history of Indian cricket. The liberal economic policies of 1991 had opened up new doors for India. With the advent of satellite television and affordable television sets, the inevitable happened.

Indian fans finally got to see live telecast of Test cricket played outside Asia. Kapil’s last Test was marked the first instance – a symbolic passing of the baton from a generation to the next.

Taking the second over, after a young Javagal Srinath, Kapil took the first wicket (of Blair Hartland, caught by Rajesh Chauhan) of this rain-affected Test match. He returned figures of 9-2-29-1 as New Zealand were bowled out for 187, captain Ken Rutherford top-scoring with 63.

Mohammad Azharuddin, the Indian captain, matched Rutherford’s score as India made 246 in response. Coming to bat at 183-5, Kapil made 18. He hit the only six of the innings, planting a foot forward to loft the off-breaks of Shane Thomson over long-on. Umpire Brian Aldridge initially signalled four before changing the signal. He finished with 61 sixes in the format.

Bryan Young (85) and Rutherford (59) then defied the Indian bowlers before a debutant called Stephen Fleming thwarted India’s hopes of a win with 92. Kapil took his final (434th) Test wicket when he had Parore caught behind.

New Zealand declared on 368-7. Set to win 310, India finished on 177-3.

Watch Kapil Dev’s last Test wicket and six here:

 

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