Kapil Dev suffered a ‘heart attack’, ‘stable’ after undergoing angioplasty: Hospital

India's first World Cup-winning cricket captain Kapil Dev underwent an angioplasty after suffering a heart attack here on Friday but is "well on the road to recovery" and likely to be discharged in the next couple of days. The 61-year-old, who is based in Delhi's Sundar Nagar area, complained of chest pain on Thursday following which he was taken to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute emergency department in Okhla.

"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.

Later in the day, a short statement on his instagram account expressed gratitude for the concern and support extended to his family.

"Thank you everyone for all the love and concern. I am overwhelmed with the good wishes and well on the road to recovery," the statement read.

Veteran cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle took to Twitter to wish Dev a speedy recovery. "Wishing the big-hearted, mighty Kapil Dev a speedy recovery. So much more to do," he wrote. 

Former India coach and Dev's 1983 World Cup-winning teammate Madan Lal also took to Twitter to inform his fans about the former India captain's current health condition.

The 1983 World Cup-winning legendary all-rounder was wished a speedy recovery by many on social media, including India's current captain Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar among others. "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 Also wishing him good health were India batsman Shikhar Dhawan and badminton player Saina Nehwal.

Kapil Dev was one of the leading all-rounders in world cricket during his playing career and is considered one of the best to have played the game. He held the world record for the most Test wickets until it was broken by West Indian Courtney Walsh.

He represented India in 131 Tests, picking up 434 wickets and scoring 5248 runs. He also played 225 ODIs, picking 253 wickets and scoring 3783 runs for India.

Kapil was inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame in 2010.