THE SUMMER OF 1983

The silver jubilee anniversary of any event of significance is a noteworthy milestone. India’s victory over the domineering West Indians in the final of the Cricket World Cup on a balmy evening at Lords on June 25, 1983 was a momentous occasion in more ways than one. 25 years later memories come flooding to one’s
mind.

India as a nation was not really known for its killer instinct at that time and even less so on the sporting arena. We were used to losing. Even so, I remember weeping uncontrollably as a child when India lost to New Zealand in the 1975 World Cup. The
victories over the West Indies at St. Kitts and over Australia in their triangular series a few months prior to the World Cup in 1983, were to mean much more on the day of reckoning than we had anticipated. The upswing in our fortunes had begun back then.

This was a team of believers that somehow broke the mould and rubbished prevailing theories that Indian teams could not be world beaters. The Tournament began for India with a stunning win over the Windies in a league match and was followed by wins
over Australia and Zimbabwe. That particular victory against Zimbabwe is probably as much a part of folklore, as anything before or after, accomplished by the Indian cricket team. Kapil Dev’s magnificent 175 after he walked in when India were
precariously poised at 17 for 5 took the team to an astounding win.

Those were the days when we would thirst for a glimpse of a ball or two, of the action on television and indeed Kapil Dev’s innings is still part only of the imagination as no video of it is available. Apparently the British TV Channels did not consider it to be a match fit for telecast.

The final and the semi-final were, however, telecast in some detail on Indian TV screens and despite the very basic technology used in those days we could make out that our team had come of age despite all odds.

It was, perhaps, the ease with which Yashpal Sharma hit Bob Willis for a slog-pull over the mid-wicket fence and the searing shots which Sandip Patil displayed that made us sure of victory over hosts England in the Semi-finals. The West Indians of those days were akin to the Tiger Woods and Roger Federers of today. India’s opponents in the Finals were awesome in all respects. Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gorden Greenidge, Malcolm Marshal, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Andy Roberts were fearsome figures on the cricket field. Pitted against them were India’s military-medium-pacers Roger Binny, Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath along with some classy batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar, K. Srikkanth and Sandip Patil. Kapil
Dev was the one outstanding one-day player in that line-up.

One remembers a familiar heart-sinking feeling as India struggled to get only 183 runs, falling like ninepins to the dreaded West Indian pace-quartet. We were all resigned to our fate, as Syed Kirmani also admitted on TV last week, and to having
accomplished more than we could hope for just by reaching the final of the World Cup. Fate had something else in store, however, as arrogance coupled with failure to take on some steady swing bowling led to the West Indian down fall.

Three memories that stand out from that West Indian innings are Balwinder Sandhu’s ball-of-the-millennium to an armshouldering Gordon Greenidge, Kapil Dev’s unparalleled athleticism in catching the dangerous Richards and celebrated
commentator Richie Benaud’s high-pitched remark “Gone !” when Clive Lloyd fell to a catch at point.

Amarnath’s little in-swinger accounted for Holding’s wicket to end the match and a delirious country erupted with joy. At that moment it seemed to every Indian that he or she was a World champion too.

The victorious team visited Chandigarh soon after their success and one recalls the simplicity with which each of them conducted himself in that hour of glory. Wide eyed at finding myself, an impressionable 16 year old, amongst my heroes at the
inaugural ceremony of Kapil Dev’s hotel, I realized that India and its people were second to none.