- The 25th of June 1983 will be remembered as a historic day in every way, as the anointed underdogs of the Prudential World Cup, Team India went on to defeat the overwhelming favorites, the mighty West Indies, in the finals. The rest, as they say, is history, and cricket as a sport has never been the same in the country or elsewhere. The Kapil Dev-led Team India scripting what turned out to be an inalienable part of our cricketing history has seen reams and reams written over the last four decades. Yes, it’s been forty years since that historic day in Lords when the unfancied team from India simply brushed aside the champion team in a low-scoring final. India’s ascendancy closely followed the West Indies’ demise from then on.
PC: Sahil Shah
- Did the yet-nascent popularity of the game in India even have die-hard fans rooting for the Team to bring home the Prudential World Cup in 1983? Not at all. Most cricket fans would have been pleased if Team India had offered enough resistance to the opposing teams by displaying competitive spirit before succumbing. But what followed was a classic case of the team not only gelling together to present stiff challenges to the opposing teams but also having in its ranks some of the most unheralded utility players who were good enough to deliver on the day. Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Yashpal Sharma, Roger Binny, Krish Srikanth, Kirti Azad, and Ravi Shastri had yet to establish themselves on the international stage.
- Established stalwarts like Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, Syed Kirmani, and Sandeep Patil formed the fulcrum of the team alongside the above-mentioned utility players. Interestingly, each player contributed when the chips were down to keep the team’s campaign afloat. Yes, Kapil Dev’s energetic and daring captaincy was the deciding factor, as was his magnificent 175 against Zimbabwe, which completely changed the team’s title-chasing campaign. There was no stopping Kapil’s Devils from competing against more fancied teams such as Australia, England, and the West Indies to become champions. Thousands of cricket fans can relive Team India’s delirious celebrations when the coveted cup was lifted back then.
PC: ANI
- We know how the momentous triumph enabled the cricket administrators in India to foresee the potential of the 50-over format. The cricket bosses in India deserve credit for completely overhauling the game by bringing in unheard-of money, chutzpah, razzmatazz, reach, sponsors, and, most importantly, revenue-generating capabilities. The game has changed significantly, including with the introduction of the shortest format, T20s. Without a doubt, India’s victory in 1983 helped pave the way for world cricket to undergo an incredible transformation. No surprise, India contributes nearly 70% of global cricket revenue due to a massively popular fan base in a billion-plus-strong nation. Cricket is still alive and well!
