London: India's World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev was on July 23 night 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 glittering ceremony 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 to its most memorable victory when the team upset the mighty West Indies in the final to lift the 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 conducted by Wisden, Kapil Dev was selected by an expert panel consisting of former players and journalists.

Sunil Gavaskar's 1985 team which won the Benson and Hedges World Series in Australia was adjudged the best Indian team of the century.

The award was presented to Kapil Dev by former West Indian batting great Viv Richards who 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 was declared as the best Indian batting performance of the century while Bhagwat Subramanium Chandrasekhar, who took 242 Test wickets at an average of 29.74, was adjudged the best bowler.

A Special Achievement Award was given to Mushtaq Ali while Gundappa Viswanath won the Spirit of the Game Award for calling back Bob Taylor in the 1977 Bombay Test after the batsman had been given out by the umpire.

PTI