25 June 1983 - Defining moment of Indian Cricket

25 years hence to this day, it is unbelievable that 25 June 1983 still remains the biggest day ever in the history of Indian Cricket. ODI number 223 still is the biggest upset and India's most memorable win. Yes, India did win the Prudential World Cup and created history which is still fresh in the minds of many Indians. The decisive moment when Mohinder Amarnath trapped Micheal Holding plumb in front of the wicket and what resulted was total chaos. Indian players ran with whatever memorabilia they could have viz. stumps, balls, bails etc straight into the Lords Pavilion. Few images of that win which are unforgettable are - Balwinder Singh Sandhu castling Gordon Greenidge with a big in swinger, Kris Srikkanth square driving Andy Roberts and later hooking him for a six, Kapil Dev running backward to catch the World Cup (yes. It was Viv Richards who was standing in between an Indian victory and defeat and was threatening to run away with the game), Kapil lifting the World Cup in the Lords gallery, Sunil Gavaskar holding Kapil's hands waiving the tri-colour recreates that magic.

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It was believed to be a mismatch and West Indies expected to pulverise the Indian Team which had few achievements in ODI before the series began. The only exception was defeating West Indies at Berbice by 72 runs. That was the only notable victory. India's previous disastrous campaigns are well remembered for Sunny Gavaskar's pain stacking 36 n.o. off major part of 60 overs. But the Indian Team under Kapil Dev were destined for great things. They started the World Cup with an unexpected win over West Indies which I believe gave them the confidence to match the strong West Indies team in the finals. India's road to final was not extraordinary but had important contributions from most of the players. Roger Binny and Madan Lal share the honours of being the highest wicket takers in the Prudential Cup. Sandeep Patil, Yashpal Sharma, Kirti Azad and Kris Srikkanth chipped in with important contributions at crucial moments. Mohinder Amarnath sizzled with both bat and ball in the semi finals and final. Gavaskar and Srikkanth gave a steady and important first wicket stand in the semi finals. Kapil Dev contributed with the brilliant catch to dismiss Sir Viv Richards in the final and with the bat in what is still the most amazing and most important one day innings in the history of Indian Cricket. An inning which any cricketer would dream of. An unbeaten 175 n.o. against minnows Zimbabwe when none of the other batsman were able to put bat on ball and hence saved India from an embarrassing defeat and paved the path to the knock outs. Syed Kirmani admits to have made the most important 24 runs in the same match when Kapil was going berserk at the other end. That innings really brought the self belief in the Indian team and they started believing that they could go on and win the tournament. Sadly the innings was not broadcasted because of a strike by BBC (the broadcasters)



25 years down the line when we look back, the summer of 1983 was more than a turning point in Indian Cricket and for more than one reason.

1. Indian Cricket started believing in itself and the win laid down a platform for many more victories like the World Series victory in 1985 down under. Kapil's Devils showed how to play a team sport where each individual felt himself to be a part of the team and it reflected in the performances.
2. It played a key role in popularising the sport in India. Colour Television had just entered Indian space an year before the World Cup. It helped to bring cricket World Cup outside England and Asia successfully hosted the subsequent edition. It was the first step towards India becoming a cricket superpower.
3. The achievements also inspired many fellow Indians to dream. Dream about playing cricket, emulate Kapil paaji when you have a ball in hand, play like Sunny Gavaskar. A young all rounder from Haryana inspired people from smaller centers to dream of making it big in cricket.
4. Cricket in India started to be taken seriously and the players started earning more as cricket brought big money into the country. In fact BCCI at that time had to organise a show by Lata Mangeshkar to raise money to pay the World Cup winning heroes.

But 25 year since that golden summer it is disappointing to believe that World Cup still remains the biggest achievement. Subsequent teams have failed to learn from the champions of 1983 and live the true spirit of the game. Sadly, intolerance and impatience is the new definition of aggression. Today players believe age and belligerence are a substitute to skill and performance. Teams with promise fluttered briefly before losing steam but there was the BCCI which was able to make the most of the popularity and became one of the richest governing bodies of sports in the world.  They made all the right moves when it came to unleash their clout and prowess making India the financial powerhouse of the world. But the fortunes of the BCCI and Indian team always suffered from perennial astigmatism. There have been flashes in the pan but the enthusiasm and hope fizzles out. The effort of the board has been too short sighted. Few innovative ideas which tried to bring a new dimension to the sport and propel the development process needed in the infrastructure to run the sport progressively and efficiently, unfortunately had to surrender to the monopsony of the BCCI. BCCI lost some of the jewels of Indian cricket to rebel league and the stand off even threatened to dampen the silver jubilee celebrations.

The silver jubilee celebrations at Lords were possible because of the ingeniousness of Kapil Dev and Sunny Gavaskar who tried to put aside the differences and celebrate a truly great moment. Now that we have rejoiced, Indian cricket lived another day, let us hope that by the time next celebrations occur, Indian cricket fans shall have many more joyous moments to cherish and savour. Team India might have won T20 World Cup, played out of the skins down Under and playing consistently with youngsters contributing to the teams success but let us hope this team will emulate the feats of the 1983 team and give us another moment to savour like the Kapil's Devils.