Kapil Dev suffers heart attack, undergoes surgery

India's legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev today suffered a heart attack and underwent an emergency coronary angioplasty, Fortis Escorts hospital said.

The 62-year-old Kapil Dev, captain of India's first World Cup cricket winning team in 1983, is now in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the hospital said he is in "stable condition" now.

"Former Indian Cricket captain Kapil Dev, came to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (Okhla Road) emergency department at 1:00 am on October 23 with a complaint of chest pain. He was evaluated and an emergency coronary angioplasty was performed by Dr Atul Mathur, director of cardiology department, in the middle of night," read the statement from the hospital, according to our New Delhi correspondent.

"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 couple of days," the statement added.

In an updated statement an hour later, the hospital said "Kapil Dev suffered a heart attack."

Angioplasty is a procedure to clear blocked arteries and restore normal blood flow to the heart.

Kapil Dev, popularly and respectfully called "paaji" by India's current cricketers, led India to a 43-run victory against the mighty West Indies under Clive Lloyd's captaincy in the World Cup final at the Lord's, London, in 1983.

Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) 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," Malhotra, also a former Test player, said.

Several sporting personalities, including India's current captain Virat Kohli and another legend Sachin Tendulkar were among a host of sports personalities who took to the Twitter wishing him speedy recovery.

"Praying for your speedy recovery. Get well soon paaji," Kohli said.

"Take care @therealkapildev! Praying for your quick recovery. Get well soon Paaji," wished Tendulkar

India batsman Shikhar Dhawan and badminton player Saina Nehwal also wished Kapil Dev.

One of India's greatest cricketers, Kapil played 131 Tests and 225 ODIs and 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. Kapil was inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame in 2010.