THE 1985 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF CRICKET VICTORY
If the 1983 World Cup win had started an ODI revolution in Indian cricket, it reached a peak when India came out triumphant in the much-hyped 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket.
The tournament was played in Australia and also featured New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England, and Pakistan apart from India and hosts Australia. India was captained by Sunil Gavaskar this time.
It was the first ODI tournament to feature colored clothing in international cricket and first-time matches were played under lights in an official manner.
India was placed in Group A with Pakistan, Australia, and England and topped the table with 3 wins in 6 matches. It faced New Zealand in the semi-final of the tournament in Sydney and managed to beat them by 7 wickets as Madan Lal took 4/37 and Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Kapil Dev scored half-centuries while chasing 207 runs.
Winning the 1985 World Championship of Cricket is the best moment for me: Ravi Shastri
In the final, India faced off against arch-rivals Pakistan in Melbourne Cricket Ground and kept them to 176/9 as Pakistan batted first after captain Javed Miandad won the toss. Kapil Dev and L Sivaramakrishnan took three wickets each.
The total was easily chased down with openers Ravi Shastri and Kris Srikkanth scoring half-centuries, as India won the match and the tournament by 8 wickets.
Ravi Shastri was named the Player of the series and famously won an Audi car. This tournament win featuring all the Test teams of that time solidified Team India’s emergence as a limited-overs giant.
