India’s first World Cup-winning cricket captain Kapil Dev suffered a heart attack and underwent an angioplasty on Friday but is expected to be discharged in the next couple of days, said the hospital where he is currently admitted.
The 61-year-old complained of chest pain on Thursday following which he was taken to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute emergency department.
“Kapil Dev suffered a heart attack. He was evaluated and an emergency coronary angioplasty was performed in the middle of night,” the hospital said in an updated health bulletin after only mentioning chest pain in its initial statement.
“Currently, he is admitted in ICU and under close supervision of Dr Atul Mathur and his team. Kapil Dev is stable now and he is expected to get discharged in a couple of days.”
Angioplasty is a procedure to open blocked arteries and restore normal blood flow to the heart.
Indian Cricketers Association President Ashok Malhotra, a friend of Kapil, earlier told PTI that the iconic cricketer is doing fine.
“He is feeling okay now. I just spoke to his wife (Romi). He was feeling uneasy yesterday. He is undergoing check-ups at a hospital as we speak,” Malhotra, also a former Test player, said.
A source close to the cricketer was earlier quoted as saying by PTI that “The heart attack was a rumour. He is absolutely fine.” The hospital’s statement refuted this.
Former cricketer Madan Lal said in a a tweet that Kapil Dev was taken to the hospital in time after he complained of uneasiness.
The former India captain is one of India’s best all-rounders and was the leader of the team that won the 1983 World Cup that put India on the global cricket map. He made over 9,000 runs in international cricket as well as taken 387 wickets across 131 test matches and 225 One Day Internationals. He is the only player in cricket’s history to claim over 400 wickets (434) and accumulate more than 5000 runs in Tests. He also served as India’s national coach between 1999 and 2000.
Many on Twitter wished the cricket great a speedy recovery.
With PTI Inputs
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