Syed Kirmani, said Kapil Dev's 175 against Zimbabwe was the best One Day knock he had ever seen.

Kapil's stunner revived the Indian innings after they were in trouble against Zimbabwe at 17 for five in a macth they had to win to reach the semi finals.

"Kapil's knock was the best that I have ever seen. We were five down with hardly anything on board.

Kapil then strung two partnerships with Roger Binny and Madan Lal and then I got in and we had an unbeaten 126-run partnership for the ninth-wicket.

"I still remember that lunch break, the players were a worried lot, even Kapil was glum and had his face pressed to the bat handle. I told him, ‘buddy, just play your natural game and I will be there' and he said ‘we have to play 60 overs' and that's what we did," Kirmani said.

"It was an unbelievable innings. And mind you, the hits were clean strikes, no cross-batted stuff. Clean cricketing shots often between long-off and long-on."

"He played straight and hard while I got the singles and ensured that he had maximum strike. I and the rest of the team cherish that innings but it is unfortunate that the BBC went on strike and we don't have it on tape. Anyway those days no one bothered about us underdogs," Kirmani said. The wicketkeeping legend scored an unbeaten 24 on that day, while Kapil's knock spread over 138 deliveries yielded 16 fours and six sixes.

Kapil, though has been very modest about his achievements. He said, "All I wanted was that the team should have something to show."

"Those were the best days of our life," Kirmani said.