Those who played with and against Zimbabwe all-rounder Kevin Curran struggled to come to terms with his sudden death yesterday. According to Zimbabwe Cricket, Curran (53) collapsed while jogging in Mutare, a place in Zimbabwe that Indian cricket followers will associate with the infamous Greg Chappell vs Sourav Ganguly clash in 2005. <img alt="" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2012/oct/kcc.jpg" style="width: 400px; height: 382px; " /> Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Kevin Curran during the 1987u00a0World Cup.u00a0Pic/Getty Imagesu00a0 Curran will probably never be forgotten by India&rsquo;s 1983 World Cup-winning team. Kapil Dev scored an unbeaten 175 in one of the most unbelievable innings of all time, but 50-odd overs before that, Curran had India reeling at six runs for three wickets in a 60 overs-a-side game. After Peter Rawson trapped Sunil Gavaskar leg before wicket for a duck, Curran sent back Krishnamachari Srikkanth (0) and Sandeep Patil (5). He claimed the wicket of Madan Lal too &ndash; Zimbabwe&rsquo;s last wicket for the day &mdash; before Kapil Dev and Syed Kirmani ensured India reached 266. Balvinder Singh Sandhu, who watched his teammates cope in swinging conditions, remembered being &ldquo;scared&rdquo; watching Curran bowl his first spell. &ldquo;He bowled brilliantly on a seaming wicket and exploited the conditions very well, but Kapil got us back in the game. Curran looked a good all-rounder,&rdquo; said Sandhu, who later in the day opened the bowling with his captain. &ldquo;Kapil was brilliant and we knew if we get 250, we would win the game. Curran tried his best to get Zimbabwe back in the game with his batting (top-scored with 73 off 93 balls). I remember him as a nice guy and a very health conscious person,&rdquo; Sandhu added. A report of that Tunbridge Wells game in the 1984 edition of Wisden Cricketers&rsquo; Almanack said: &ldquo;The match was still not firmly in India&rsquo;s hands, for Curran, who with Rawson had been responsible for India&rsquo;s early disasters, played a dashing innings of 73, and it was not until he was ninth out at 230 in the 56th over that India were safe.&rdquo; India went on to win by 31 runs. 25 years ago... in India Twenty-five Octobers ago, Curran was in India as part of Zimbabwe&rsquo;s 1987 World Cup squad and in the game against India at Mumbai&rsquo;s Wankhede Stadium, man of the match Manoj Prabhakar had him snicking one to wicketkeeper Kiran More for a duck in a match which India sailed through by eight wickets. More called Curran an &ldquo;outstanding, classy all-rounder &mdash; the best from Zimbabwe.&rdquo; Former South Africa spinner Omar Henry, who played first-class cricket with Curran on the domestic scene in the Rainbow Nation, said: &ldquo;Kevin was a tough competitor and his all-round skills were an asset to any side he played for. He was a very crafty bowler. Apart from that, he was a fine bloke. He had a good sense of humour and was lovely to chat with after a game. His death is a great shock and loss.&rdquo;u00a0

Zimbabwe cricket mourn Kevin Curran's death

Zimbabwean all-rounder also made Tunbridge Wells famous 

Why Kapil's 1983 World Champs will never forget late Kevin Curran

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Home / Sports / Cricket / Article / Why Kapil's 1983 World Champs will never forget late Kevin Curran

Why Kapil's 1983 World Champs will never forget late Kevin Curran

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